Something New
by Spat915
Summary: Salem has found a way to draw power from another world. The goal? Chaos perfect for breeding grimm. Having hit a dead end in their war, Team RNJR has stopped near Atlas for a resupply and to assist a nearby village. While there, Ruby picks up Weiss and their team heads to clear out a grimm nest. Turns out, this nest has a mystery device connecting it to the defenseless Arendelle.
1. Chapter 1

Five short knocks sounded on the solid oak door separating the royal study from the rest of the castle. The pattern was all too familiar with the new monarch since she'd heard it many times in the past week, and countless times over the years. She sighed as she placed her quill back in it's seat before leaning back in her chair and rubbing at her eyes. _Every time! Every time I start figuring out what I'm doing, she_ has _to interrupt me!_

The thoughts were pushed out of her head as she realized how happy she was that her sister could _still_ interrupt her, considering the events of the past week. And she couldn't very well go back on her word promising her sister open doors from that point forward.

"Come in Anna." She called as she opened her eyes to find her little sister's head already poking around the door.

"Whatcha doing?" Anna asked as she danced her way over to the desk. "I thought you'd be done for today by now."

"The kingdom doesn't rest, Anna." Elsa sighed as she looked back down at the paperwork for a modified trade agreement that had been proposed as an apology from Weselton. "And we need to reestablish trade with Weselton quickly. There are rumours that other countries aren't too happy about my appointment as Queen without a King, and Arendelle won't survive a war without a short trade route."

"Nonsense!" Anna waved dismissively. "Everyone loves you. All we need to do is throw another ball to show everyone what you're like when you have a handle on your powers!"

"That's the problem Anna! I still know absolutely nothing about them!" Elsa said loudly in frustration with herself. She watched as the frost prickled over her desk before slowly receding as she took measured breaths. "All I know is that when I get frustrated or upset, this damned ice takes over. And you seem to be the only way I can temporarily gain some semblance of control over it."

"See! That's what I mean!" Anna jumped animatedly as she pointed at Elsa who raised one eyebrow in question. "I help you control it! So just do that! You didn't know at your coronation, so that can't happen again. Not to mention, you don't exactly have to hide the fact that you can do some really cool magic anymore!"

"Anna, please. Even if I do invite all the countries back, some might be too afraid to come." Elsa reasoned while she closed her eyes to rub at her sore temple. "People do terrible things when they're afraid, Anna. Look at the Duke of Weselton. He tried to have me assassinated to end the Eternal Winter. And I'm almost positive he's not the only one who would have come up with the idea, he was just the one who chose to act on it first. And that's why I need to reevaluate these trade agreements. To show that I recognize that we were both in the wrong and I don't hold his country responsible for his actions. And on top of that, I received a letter from the Duke announcing his visiting delegation that will show up in three days for the Court of Nations next week, as well as a letter from the King of the Southern Isles explaining that he'd sent a different son this time to-"

"Elsa…" Anna said hesitantly, getting Elsa's attention. "You're kind of snowing…"

Elsa looked around to find a fair amount of snow falling from thin air near the ceiling of the chamber. The fire was extinguished and the coals had died as the air was turning more and more frigid by the second. Elsa looked worriedly at her sister as she realized she had to leave, but the queen froze as she took in the body language of her sister.

"Aren't you cold?" Elsa asked in shock as she willed the snow to at least stop. The temperature was easily below freezing, but at least it had stopped snowing.

"Not really…" Anna replied as she picked some snow off of a nearby lamp and let it fall to the floor. "Kind of odd, but I guess the cold doesn't bother me too much anymore. Maybe I'm getting used to it?"

"Skadi's skis Anna! It's colder than Niflheim in here!" Elsa couldn't believe her sister hadn't even crossed her arms to preserve warmth. Their breathing was falling heavy as the moisture froze into ice as it passed their lips. But much like her own skin that was one with the ice, Anna's skin failed to so much as take on the pallor of being cold, or the rosiness of the beginnings of frostbite. As Elsa circled her desk to inspect her little sister more closely, Anna approached her, offering her right hand up for inspection.

"It feels a little cool, but I don't really notice it if I don't pay attention. Like I know it's supposed to be freezing, but it just doesn't… feel like it." Anna shrugged, already resigned to not have the adequate words. "Maybe it had something to do with that whole thing from before…"

"I think we should consult with the trolls about this, Anna. If there's some side effect from me freezing your heart-"

"Elsa! Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Anna interrupted sternly. "I forgive you, it's over. Remember what I said? I love you. That's all that matters."

"But Anna-"

"You use it for sitting, Elsa." Anna cut her off again, the look in her eyes daring her elder sister to continue her train of thought. It was a look she'd obviously developed in their years of separation, and Elsa felt herself losing her will to continue.

"Alright Anna. But we're still going to the trolls." Elsa gave in quickly. One thing she'd learnt since letting her sister back into her life is that she couldn't argue with her when she was getting upset. Anna simply looked too cute when her brow furrowed and her cheeks puffed up in frustration. _Not to mention those delectably tender lips that must taste-!_ Elsa shook the dangerous thoughts away and continued. "We can go tomorrow morning if you have no plans."

"Oh, no." Anna shook her finger at her sister. "You have worked hard enough for this week! We are going to visit the trolls, and then we are going to take the day off!"

"Anna, I have-"

"Nope! No dice!" Anna interrupted again. "You have that Nations thingy next week, and everyone will need you to be on point! If you wear yourself out now, you won't be able to sweet talk all the people you think are going to have a problem with Arendelle."

"Anna, I still have to go over this new agreement from Weselton and figure out which nations have strong connections to patriarchal religions, as well as how to appease them that I am every bit as capable of running this kingdom as any man." Elsa vented in exasperation. "And then there's the whole Southern Isles debacle that seems to still be moving straight to round two as this next son has announced himself as a potential suitor for us."

"Elsa, breathe." Anna giggled as she clasped Elsa's shoulders and started to dig her fingers in gently. "For the Weselton agreement, why don't you get your trade advisers to make a suggestion and go from there. They have years of experience _in trade_ for a reason. Same thing goes for your security council and intelligence committee, set them on the whole _who's mad at me_ thing. And then for Hans version two, just let him play his game and we'll just both say no. When we need to give a reason, we just say that Hans broke our trust in the family and it isn't such an easy thing to forget when he threatened both our lives."

Elsa thought of Anna's suggestions and sighed with a slight nod of her head as she let her sister continue to massage her shoulders while she was guided back to her chair.

"Good, now all you need to do is draw up the requests, which are fairly short if I remember right, and send them to the court chairman. He'll take care of the heavy work, and you might even get a bit more approval for going to them for help rather than try to do it all yourself." Anna said as she helped pile the papers on Elsa's desk into a stack and move it to the corner while Elsa pulled out two single pages. Seeing that her goal had been accomplished, she turned to walk out the door. "And Elsa, please, if you have plans tomorrow, cancel them. Because I want you to relax and I want to spend time with you. Like we used to."

"Fine, Anna." Elsa sighed as she willed the last of the snow to disappear from the room and the temperature to return to at least normal. Anna opened the door and was about to leave when Elsa felt she needed to say something more. "I'm not mad at you, you know. I just… don't know how to say what I want to with you. This whole… being your sister is still new to me. We missed so much over those fourteen years."

"I know." Anna smiled serenely. A smile that was filled with love and respect that Elsa knew she didn't deserve. "I'll let you finish what you need to do, but don't forget about tomorrow. I love you Elsa."

"Rest well, Anna." Elsa watched as she skipped out of the room. Once the oak had fully shut, Elsa turned her back on the door and returned her attention to her desk. "And I love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure about this Weiss? I mean, your grandfather just… and now you're making rash decisions that could affect your entire life!" Ruby argued, not for the first time as Weiss carefully packed her supplies into the large backpack she'd be carrying in the next portion of her life.

"I've wanted to leave since I got here five months ago, Ruby." Weiss sighed as she finished zipping up the last zipper and attached the sleeping roll. "I didn't even know for sure if you were still alive until yesterday, and now I'm not going to just let you go traipsing around Remnant without a partner!"

"But I told you I've been travelling with the rest of JNPR." Ruby argued. "Jaune's my partner."

"So am I, Ruby." Weiss said quietly. "I'll always be your partner, no matter what."

"Well, yeah, I mean you'll be mine too, but-"

"Ruby, I need to tell you something before we go. I just need to put it out there so we can move on, okay?" Weiss asked, as she tried to calm her nervousness by clenching her hands together.

"I-is it something I did wrong?" Ruby asked apprehensively as she approached her partner.

"Nothing like that, you dunce!" Weiss replied quickly as she took a deep breath. "It's my problem, or maybe not a problem at all, depending on how you react."

"It's okay, Weiss. I'm here for you." Ruby closed the gap and gave her partner a hug, feeling that that would be the thing Yang would do in this situation. "Whatever it is I promise I'll try to help."

"Thank you Ruby." Weiss returned the hug gently before pushing her back again. "Ruby, I know this will come as a shock to you, and trust me when I say I'm still not even sure about what this is that I'm feeling so I may be mistaken as well, but I think I might have… an attraction to you."

"Oh, okay…" Ruby nodded for a moment. "Uh… what do you mean by that?"

"You complete dolt!" Weiss huffed as she tried to conceive a better way to explain it. She looked at the time and noticed they had ten minutes before they were scheduled to leave, leaving her with few options that would truly convey her emotion. "I like you Ruby. You're my best friend, and my partner. I've been worried constantly about you for five long months and you comforted me when one of the few people I'm close with in my family died suddenly. You keep coming to my rescue and I want to spend all my time with you. I just…"

Ruby was nodding as Weiss was speaking but the heiress could tell that everything she was saying wasn't clicking in Ruby's head. Maybe her attraction was that abnormal that Ruby couldn't possibly imagine that a girl could have romantic feelings toward another girl. Regardless, she needed Ruby to know in definitive detail that she was falling in love with her, so she did the only thing left that she knew would be crossing a line that she possibly shouldn't.

Ruby's face grew larger as Weiss approached and slipped her hands around Ruby's neck to keep her head where she wanted it. She felt Ruby's arms wrap themselves around her waist as she leaned in and brushed her lips carefully past those of her partner. The moment lasted as Weiss slowly led the kiss and worked her fingers into the younger huntress's hair.

"Okay, it's definitely a bit more than simply a small attraction." Weiss breathed as she calmed her nerves that were all blazing with the intimate heat of their embrace. She rested her head on her partner's shoulder and concentrated on calming her nerves. Ruby hadn't moved from the second their lips had touched and Weiss was afraid she'd done something she shouldn't have. "I'm sorry Ruby…. I just… needed you to know."

"I-" Ruby cleared her throat as she pulled Weiss tighter into her arms for a moment. "It's okay… um… I… I don't know what I'm thinking right now. Or if I'm thinking at all."

Ruby laughed awkwardly as she continued to process everything.

"It's alright Ruby. You won't hurt me if you don't feel the same way." Weiss lied effortlessly as she kept her head pressed intimately to her partner's neck and shoulder. "I just couldn't keep this a secret from you. Eventually it would become a problem."

"R-right… um… well, thanks then. But… c-can we just talk about this later?" Ruby replied with another cough. "I… need time to think. I've… um… n-never really thought about this kind of stuff before and I don't want to… do it wrong."

"I understand." Weiss nodded slightly, realizing she'd need to let Ruby go soon. If anything she was disappointed that Ruby hadn't given her a clear reply to her affection and whether or not it was wanted. It would have been so much easier to move on if Ruby had outright rejected her, but a small spark of hope remained that there was a possibility of a good outcome from all this, an outcome she shrugged off as the bright picture of it was just too optimistic for their world.

Weiss released Ruby who let her own arms fall to her sides. She looked at Ruby's eyes, behind which she could tell the girl was still busy determining her opinion on what had just happened. Weiss sighed and turned to the clock to see that they had almost spent ten whole minutes together. _How long was I kissing her?_

The thought brought a blush to her face to darken the one that she held from the intimate encounter. She hid it as best she could as she returned to the pack she'd be carrying for the next period of her life as she travelled with Ruby and JNPR.

"My father will have just left to attend the funeral, we should go now to give us the best head start." Weiss said as she pulled the pack onto her back and placed Myrtenaster on her belt. It felt good to have the familiar weight of her rapier over her combat skirt, a familiarity that brought back memories of all the good times in her life.

"Weiss, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Ruby asked again. "I mean, none of us know what's going to happen to us. We might get ambushed by grimm in the night and die tomorrow, or we might get killed by Salem or Cinder or her followers that we're also hunting."

"I know Ruby, but I'd rather die with you than be forced to live here a single day longer." Weiss smiled sadly at her partner. "I'd rather be happy for a day than simply alive for a year. It's something I learned at Beacon, but I didn't realize it until my grandfather helped me realize it. If nothing else, you're my best friend, Ruby. I know I want more, but even if you don't feel the same way, I'll be happy to just be your best friend and teammate."

"Alright Weiss. As long as you're sure." Ruby said hesitantly. "But wouldn't you rather go to his funeral first?"

"We've gone over this Ruby. Father won't let me leave if he knows that's what I intend to do. He has all the money he needs to keep me locked in my room with a small army as guards." Weiss said quickly. "If I'm going to leave, it has to be when he doesn't expect it, and when he won't be looking into my whereabouts for as long as possible."

Weiss led Ruby from her room and hung the do not disturb sign from her handle. She led Ruby down the hall, knowing that all the servants were to attend the funeral service, so the manor was empty save the two huntresses.

"But are you sure you don't want to say goodbye?" Ruby asked quietly as they approached the front door. Weiss's hand froze on the knob as she realized why Ruby would ask her that question.

"Ruby, he knew he was dying. The night before, he said goodbye to me as if he knew he wouldn't survive the night." Weiss shuddered as she repressed her tears. "He told me once that funerals were for the living because the dead go to a place to watch over us. Whether or not he's right, he'd understand why I can't go. Why I don't want to go. I just want to remember him when he was alive, not when he's lying in a box. He's not there anyway. He's gone, only his body is left. There's nothing left for me here."

"Okay." Ruby pulled Weiss into a brief but warm hug. "Then let's go."

"Yes, lets." Weiss opened the door and the two started their long trek to the outskirts of Atlas where they'd agreed to meet with the rest of their teammates. Weiss noticed how the sun peeked out from behind the dark winter clouds, sending a beam of light over the city. The sparkling sight of the light on snow was one of the most beautiful sights Weiss had ever seen, even if it disappeared a moment later as the clouds plunged the mid-morning into a darkness like that of night. Beside her, Ruby walked with purpose. The girl's thoughts obviously still settling as the silence stretched. Weiss wasn't sorry for causing Ruby this problem, but she knew that the girl was only trying to be fair and give her an honest answer of her own feelings. Weiss knew she'd had much more time to consider this prospect and knew how hard it had been for her to accept it and admit, even to herself, what it was she was feeling.

"Team White Rose off on another whirlwind adventure, right?" Weiss asked while bumping Ruby's shoulder. Ruby jumped as she snapped back to the real world and smiled at Weiss in a way that pulled at her heartstrings because it was Ruby smiling at her.

"Ha, yeah!" Ruby cheered as she realized something. "We're going to have a hard time finding a new name now though…"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked curiously at the return of Ruby's chipper self.

"Well, with me replacing Pyrrha, we were team RNJR like ranger. But now… w or s…" Ruby thought. "OH! How about SRNJR? It's like we're the mysterious stranger that shows up to kick the bad guys' butts!"

"Ruby, wouldn't it be simpler to just change it to RNJRS? You know, because there are a bunch of us acting like those frontier rangers?" Weiss asked with concern.

"No way! SRNJR is way cooler!" Ruby argued and Weiss laughed as she returned the argument playfully. She knew that it didn't matter one way or another, but it was always fun to simply talk about nothing to avoid the worries of the road ahead. "RNJRS sounds like we're all multiple people."

"And SRNJR doesn't have a T, so it'll look more like something you inject yourself with!" Weiss laughed as Ruby cringed.

"Fine you win, RNJRS it is."

"Actually, I was starting to get fond of SRNJR…" Weiss teased causing Ruby to disappear in a flurry of petals as she scooped a ball of snow from the roadside. Weiss wasn't prepared as the ball exploded on her face, sending the cold yet soft snow all over her face and hair. "Oh, you're going to get it!"

"Gotta catch me first!" Ruby giggled before she disappeared part way down the road. Weiss smiled as she hefted her pack higher on her back. She brushed the snow off and started moving faster as she caught her unobservant partner in a glyph.

"No fair!" Ruby complained as she resigned herself to her fate.

"Today you learn why you don't start a snowball fight with someone who grew up in Atlas!" Weiss spoke, keeping the humour from her words with great difficulty.

"No… please not that!" Ruby objected as she watched Weiss scoop a loose handful of snow off the bank next to her. "Anything but that!"

"Just know that this will hurt me just as much as it hurts you." Weiss teased as she dumped the snow down the back of Ruby's cloak causing a cry of shock and a large shiver as Ruby desperately fought to get most of it to fall out before it melted. "Now come on, we have to put some ground between us and this city."

Ruby simply nodded as she caught up to the heiress, the two falling back into silence as they walked. This time it was comfortable. There was still plenty to say and learn from each other but right now everything could wait for them both to be ready.


	3. Chapter 3

"Who is it that approaches?" The old troll asked in concern.

"It appears to be a carriage, carrying two women from the village in the valley." The smaller troll responded in a rush. "I couldn't make out who they were, but the path curves away from our territory."

"Best to be safe in these matters. And I sense they are coming to a stop." The old one replied grimly. "Everyone! Disguise yourselves now! Only show yourselves to those who have proven their worth!"

A great rumbling sounded from all over the hidden glade as the population of trolls disguised themselves as boulders. Their magic wasn't very powerful anymore, as it had been dwindling for centuries, but they still retained the skill to enshroud themselves with one of the strongest illusions in the mortal realm.

"You best join your brothers and sisters." The old troll instructed the young one. "I will remain hidden and observe."

"Sure thing Grand Pabbie!" the younger troll saluted before he collapsed into a small oval.

The old troll held onto a clear crystal that hung from his neck and recited the spell of invisibility in his mind. He sent a prayer to the earth and knelt as the shroud overtook him, leaving him invisible, but able to see the entire clearing. The troll waited quietly and without movement. Any slight fidget might be enough to break the spell, and he did not wish to endanger his kingdom no matter how small it might be.

He watched as two young women walked into the glade, the hoods of their grey cloaks hiding their faces from view as they approached the center of the field of boulders.

"Grand Pabbie? It's me, Anna." The princess announced herself as she removed her hood from her face. "I've brought my sister today. She… well, we both have a question for you."

The old troll thought for a moment. This was the third time the princess had been in this glade. And the queen had been there only once before. He thought about the sisters and reached out with his spirit to find if their intent bore any ill will for his people. Sensing nothing but a troubling unrest, he stood from his place, the invisibility spell dissolving around him as his friends and family all rolled to their feet and bowed to the queen of Arendelle.

"Queen and Princess of Arendelle." He spoke calmly as he slowly approached. "I sense trouble in your hearts. What is the matter?"

"Grand Pabbie!" Anna called as she came over to him and took his hand in greeting, leading him back to her sister. "This is-"

"Elsa, we've met once before." He nodded to the queen.

"Yes, and I wish it were under better circumstances." Elsa replied. "However I fear that this time is no different."

The old troll nodded. He'd expected as much. For complete control of any magical power, whether from curse or birth, time was always necessary to master its uses. A great many ailments both physical and mental hailed from the winter which Elsa had been born to wield.

"The thing is, ever since I was frozen, I've been feeling more and more comfortable in extreme cold as if it doesn't affect me." Anna explained.

"I fear it is a side effect of Anna succumbing, no matter how shortly, to the ice I placed in her heart." Elsa finished clarifying and waited as the troll looked between them, in thought.

"You speak of succumbing…" He prompted hesitantly.

"Anna froze to a statue of solid ice while saving me from the blade of a traitor. I was… and still am haunted by that image." Elsa shuddered. "I clung to her as I mourned what I thought to be her final act, a sacrifice to save me. But by some magic I am still unsure of, she returned to me."

"Let me see…" The troll took both of Anna's hands in his own and listened to the soul he could feel thrumming through her veins. It spoke of a hardship passed but left no note of any curse, no matter how small to be affecting either her physical body or her mind. "It is odd, that Anna is clear of all curses. Unless…. Let me look at Elsa."

The troll repeated his process of listening to her soul. He heard the loud hum of the winter and the dull wavering of a troubled conscious, but no curses could be found to have affected the queen either.

"You too are clear of all curses. Yet you claim to have done the impossible by bringing your sister back to life." He spoke to the queen.

"Please, explain all you know." Elsa asked as she shrunk away from her sister slightly while affixing her gaze to Anna's. "She's the only family I have left."

"The knowledge I have has been passed down for centuries, so please understand that there is a limit to what I can tell you that I am sure is accurate. As legend goes, when the heart is frozen, only an act of truest love will cure the curse placed there. But once the curse runs its course, nothing can be done, and to solid ice you will freeze forever. According to the stories, the victim is killed the second they freeze solid." He spoke calmly but searched through the countless bits of knowledge he possessed for an answer. "It has never been done in my time on this earth, but if you are to be believed, you and your sister performed acts of true love for each other lifting the curse, but the time-line you have described is unprecedented. I do not believe anyone suffering the winter's curse has ever been cured from it's final stage, nor do I believe it will happen again. Alas, I know not the side effects it could cause. The only reason I can assume for this development would be because of an affinity between your souls that has given Anna recognition by the winter trapped within you, Queen Elsa. Perhaps a recognition stemming from the incident in your childhood."

"You speak of my power, of the winter, or ice as if it has sentience. As if it can think." Elsa spoke as she carefully memorized the words she was being told.

"Yes, the winter knows you well Elsa. As the earth knows of this glade since time immemorial." The elderly troll spoke carefully once more. "The seasons can not think as you and I do, Elsa. But that is not to say they don't think, or communicate. Have you ever heard rain thundering down on the roof of a carriage? Or how about the wind howling through an open window? I'm certain you've heard the sound of ice cracking before, have you not?"

"I have, to all you've described." Elsa nodded, realizing already where the conversation was going.

"Then you've heard the earth speak to you in it's most basic form." Grand Pabbie said as he took a step back to address both the royals. "Now, you must understand that even those of us gifted by the seasons can never fully conceive of the will of the earth. And for that reason I can only guess at the will of the winter. But I would not find it odd if, from one means or another, the winter has chosen to protect Anna. Just as it chose you to control it when you were born, Elsa. Whether this was brought on by an event is unknown to me, but I sense your souls have become exceedingly close even after such a terrible separation."

Elsa took a moment to think over his words and performed a short bow to the troll. "Thank you for your wisdom Grand Pabbie. I will need time to think on your words. But I have one more question. Does the cold pose any threat whatsoever to Anna's safety?"

"Come Anna, remove your cloak." The troll instructed as he pulled a crystal from around his neck. This one was a brilliant blue that shone as if the light was within the item. "This crystal holds only a fraction of the full power of winter within it. I will attempt to channel the smallest fraction of this into your hands and I want you to tell me if, and when, you start to feel even remotely cold."

"Sure thing!" Anna nodded as she let the troll once again take her hands and she felt an interesting buzz tingle down her arms and into her body. It wasn't exactly cold, but she could tell that it was supposed to be. Indeed, it seemed that it was the same temperature as her skin when she wasn't paying it any mind. Anna held her silence for what felt like minutes until the troll released her hands.

"I dare not do more lest I pour the ice of a thousand winters into her at once." The old troll said in awe as he stepped back from the young royals. "It seems that the winter does indeed recognize Anna as one of it's chosen, to whom it will do no harm."

"Does that mean…" Elsa breathed realizing what the trolls words might imply, but too afraid to actually voice her hopes.

"Yes, dear Elsa. It would appear that you can no longer harm your sister, and your sister has no more reason to fear you." Grand Pabbie sighed as he said the next thing that he knew he must say. "But I caution you both of the future. A dark evil is stirring, and a gateway to a great evil may be opening. But how exactly, and where, is unclear. The stars have spoken of a small group of heroes that will save this world from the coming plague, but I cannot say who these are or from whence they come. The only information the sky has given is that they will wield the elements of nature as their weapons, and stand against the very darkness that will consume us all if the heroes should fall. Be warned that the stars have also spoken of the winter's involvement, though I cannot say how or when it will be needed."

"Thank you very much for your time and counsel. I will investigate at the earliest opportunity." Elsa did a small bow before she started leaving, Anna following in her wake as she waved at the trolls who waved back, recognizing her from when she'd visited with Christoff.

The two entered their carriage and continued their trip up to the ice castle in the carriage-sized sled carried by a single large horse crafted from ice.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ruby! What took you so long?" Jaune called as he watched Ruby approach from the top of the hill they'd made their camp on. "We almost came looking for you!"

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby called back as she trudged through the snow that undoubtedly hid Weiss behind her due to all the white in her outfit. "Some stuff came up, but our team is bigger now!"

"What do you- OH!" Jaune gasped as he noticed Weiss's arm wave from behind the scythe wielder. "I didn't think you'd actually get Weiss to come. How did you manage that?"

Ruby came to a stop next to her fellow leader and allowed Weiss to take a position next to her. "Well… there were a few problems, and Weiss decided the best way to deal with them would be to join us."

"That, and I want to help you." Weiss added, silently thanking Ruby for not mentioning her familial situation. "Sitting in Atlas doesn't help get anything done, no matter how much the politicians think it does."

"Is everyone still talking about what to do?" Jaune asked, more than slightly unimpressed by the lack of progress the most technologically advanced kingdom had made in resolving the CCT issue.

"No, they're completely unfocused. Some are preparing for a potential war between the remaining kingdoms, and as usual my father is trying to get dust shipped out regardless of the risk to the SDC's workers." Weiss replied with her old scoff. "They're all just throwing words and lien around with nobody doing anything."

"Where are Ren and Nora?" Ruby asked, turning the conversation away from Atlas to something more practical. She had a feeling Weiss was tired of dealing with it at the moment.

"They went to the next village already. It's just over that hill, so I told them to start stocking up on supplies while I wait for you." Jaune said as he picked up his pack of supplies. "They said we might have a mission too."

"Sounds great!" Ruby cheered, turning to Weiss in excitement. "You ready for this?"

"Please." She dismissed with a wave.

"W-well, are you?" Ruby asked uncertainly as she didn't know what her partner's answer had meant.

"Yes, Ruby. I'm ready." Weiss sighed, remembering now how she couldn't talk to Ruby without the girl missing her intended meaning. Especially when she was excited. "I wouldn't have come if I wasn't."

"Alright! Team… what were we again?" Ruby asked as she realized they'd argued back and forth for a good portion of the trip out of the city.

"It doesn't matter. As long as we're a team." Weiss stated as she followed Jaune, realizing that by coming she'd forced herself in between the two who'd undoubtedly become close friends over the past months.

It took a while to walk to the distant hill, but Weiss used the time to plan what she knew she had to do before they could really become a team like Ruby wanted. She'd left far too quickly, and she felt she needed to at least trust JNPR enough to earn their trust in return. That meant sharing her reasons for coming. Well… maybe not _all_ her reasons.

The town was even smaller than Weiss had expected. It comprised of about ten buildings of which one was obviously a store, one a smithy, and two seemed to house livestock. The remaining six were almost definitely houses, though one of them seemed much more elaborate in its design than the others.

Jaune led the trio through the buildings to the one with that had caught Weiss's eye. He entered and Weiss realized why it seemed to stand out. It was a hunter station. There was nobody in the main room, but that didn't mean much. Jaune led them through a doorway and up a flight of stairs to a large sitting room that had a work bench running around the outer wall. Sitting on the couch with it's back to them was Ren, the bright shock of pink in his hair now faded and overpowered by his naturally dark hair.

"Hey there Ren, how's Nora?" Jaune asked quietly. Ruby and Weiss approached and found the usually rambunctious girl sleeping on Ren's lap.

"She's doing better. The nightmare kept her up all night." Ren replied sadly. "It seems to have gotten worse since…"

"Hey, I'm back." Ruby announced, interrupting Ren and walking into view. "I brought someone with me."

"Hello Weiss." Ren greeted after a quick glance behind him. "I didn't expect you to join us."

"I'll tell you all more when Nora wakes." Weiss replied in answer to the unspoken question. "There's… some things I need to say. To all of you."

"Alright, but let's leave it for now. Go downstairs and find a room to rest in. We'll leave in a few hours, so best to rest now." Ren stated as he passed Jaune a file that he'd had sitting beside him.

Ruby nodded and pulled Weiss away quickly, putting a floor between the remaining members of JNPR and themselves. Ruby quickly found a room and Weiss followed her in as the girl jumped on the bed while throwing her pack to the floor with a loud thump. Weiss placed her pack down as well and closed the door, putting the sign on the handle to indicate the room had been taken.

"Are you going to join me for a nap?" Ruby asked from behind a blush.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Ruby." Weiss replied, moving over to the chair. "I'll sleep here."

"But Weiss…" Ruby whined as she put on her puppy dog eyes. "I wanna cuddle buddy!"

"No Ruby, that's not… safe…" Weiss trailed off as she met the girls eyes. They trembled as if about to start crying. Weiss battled herself for a moment, telling herself that Ruby was just playing her, but she could never truly believe that. "Fine! I'll cuddle with you, but only this once!"

"Aww… I thought you liked me…" Ruby sulked even more, which caused Weiss to hesitate as she drew near. She crouched down so she was at eye level with her partner and took a calming breath as those silver pools focused on her own blue orbs.

"Ruby, I… I don't want to get my hopes up for something impossible." She said solemnly. "I do want to cuddle with you, but I'm afraid that if I do I won't be able to dismiss my attraction to you so easily."

"Then don't."

"What?" Weiss asked as if she'd heard the short reply wrong.

"I said don't." Ruby repeated. "I don't know how to explain anything either, but I know something is different between us. There's something that isn't the same as with Yang or Jaune or Nora or Ren, but I'm not sure how to describe it. I have a small idea I know what it is, but I'm afraid I'll hurt you if I say anything and it turns out I was wrong. I just need more time, Weiss. I want to figure out what this feeling is, so I want us to try… this, us… slowly, okay?"

Weiss took in the sweet and honest words from her partner, and nodded. "Okay, Ruby. We can do that… just, please… don't… don't let this drag on too long. I'm not sure I'd be able to take it."

She climbed up into the bed and allowed Ruby to cuddle up to her back and wrap her arms around her waist. The room was too warm for a blanket, and Weiss soaked in the warmth of Ruby pressing up against her. Sure it was through several thick layers of clothing, but at least she was there. It didn't take long for Ruby's gentle breathing to lull her into one of the deepest sleeps she'd had since before she'd been forced to abandon her friends.

* * *

"-by? Weiss? Are one of you in there?" Weiss awoke to a gentle knocking on the door. It took her a moment to realize a question had been asked before she could answer.

"Jaune? What's the matter?" Weiss called sleepily as she couldn't bring herself to move just yet.

"We're getting ready to go. Help us find Ruby, okay?" He asked, and Weiss heard his footsteps recede from the door. Weiss turned to look at the girl beside her who still had one arm draped over her midsection, and Weiss couldn't help but feel a sense of elation that came from Ruby's cuteness.

"Ruby, it's time to get up." Weiss whispered as she rolled closer to the girl who pulled her tighter into an embrace as her face scrunched up in distaste.

"Five more minutes…" Ruby mumbled as she burrowed her head into Weiss's neck. Weiss forced herself to ignore the intimacy of the moment, fearing she'd let Ruby sleep for another hour if she didn't.

"Come on, the rest of our team is waiting for us." Weiss whispered as she pushed Ruby back a little so her face was exposed to the late afternoon sun drifting in through the blinds.

"Too sleepy…" Ruby mumbled, giving no effort to reposition herself.

"Incentives, right…" Weiss mumbled in response as she remembered that Ruby almost always needed incentives to do anything against her wishes. Apparently getting up after a short nap was one of those things, so Weiss thought of what she had in her pack. She'd purposely brought a box of cookies so she could win her partner over without too much effort, but decided against using it as she'd planned it as a last resort.

The way Ruby held her felt so good that it was almost impossible to tell if she even wanted to get Ruby to wake up. Then the idea to kiss Ruby awake fell into her mind. She blushed as she tried to think of something else, but between Ruby still not giving her a definite answer and her own hesitation to make Ruby uncomfortable, she didn't move. So it surprised her when she snapped out of her train of thought as a pair of lips gently pressed to her own.

Weiss quickly pulled Ruby close as Ruby's arms tightened as well. A wave of happiness washed through her as it had been Ruby to initiate this kiss, and she was relieved that maybe, just maybe, Ruby really did mean what she'd said before they fell asleep. Weiss felt something warm poke at her lips and gasped as she realized what Ruby was doing. Their tongues met briefly before Ruby pulled away, gasping for breath.

"Best way to wake up… ever." She said with a shy grin as Weiss felt her own blush rage on.

"Dunce…" Weiss mumbled as she turned away from Ruby to try to regain some sort of control over her voice. "Jaune said we have to leave soon."

"Right! Our first mission as team… RNJRS?" Ruby asked, realizing they _still_ hadn't decided on a name. She shrugged and jumped up off the bed and picked up Weiss's backpack. "Here."

Weiss took it and slipped it on as Ruby picked her own up and followed her partner out of the room. It wasn't hard to find the remaining 3 members of the team waiting for them in the main floor area that housed a large mission board.

"Oh, you found Ruby. That saves us some work." Jaune commented at seeing Ruby approach.

"WEISS IS HERE?!" Nora screamed in excitement as she rushed over, almost tackling the heiress even as Ruby held on to her to support the impact. "This is fantastic! Now we outnumber the guys so we can win every single vote!"

"That's not why I brought her along, Nora. But that does seem to work out." Ruby laughed, pushing the girl off as Jaune groaned.

"Alright. So why did you bring her then?" Nora asked in confusion, assuming that being a tie-breaker was the only conceivable reason.

"I asked to come." Weiss replied, pulling everyone's eyes to her. "I needed to get away from… everything that's happened in the past few days."

"This isn't some getaway." Ren stated simply. Weiss felt from her previous encounter with the boy that he didn't trust her, or at the least that he wasn't happy with her, and she didn't blame him for it. She had left without a word to any of them in the middle of the night, after all. Though it wasn't her choice to do so, she still shouldered the responsibility for her actions.

"I know. Ruby's filled me in somewhat. I want to help you track down Salem and whoever is helping her." Weiss replied with conviction. "I understand if you don't want me to join you though."

"Don't be-" Ruby started but Weiss covered her mouth with her hand gently, silencing her protest.

"My father ordered me to leave all of you after the battle at Beacon, and I didn't even put up a fight." Weiss said as much to Ruby as the other three. "I've regretted that decision for five long months, and I can't promise that I won't fail you again. My father terrifies me more than anything else, even death. I'm not sure if I can stand against him and disobey him. But I want to try because instead of playing politics and talking about action, I want to do something that makes a difference. However small that difference may be."

"Ren, are you happy?" Jaune asked with a sigh. Weiss could tell they'd talked about this subject for at least a while prior to this confrontation.

"You didn't even say goodbye." He replied, looking at Ruby before turning his attention back to Weiss. "She cried for a month."

"I… dislike goodbyes. They're too… final." Weiss said quietly, hanging her head. "And I… I haven't had one full night of sleep since Beacon either. I didn't even know if any of you were still alive."

A moment of silence engulfed the group, even Nora refused to break it as they let the words sink in.

"One more thing. What are you running from now?" Ren asked pointedly.

"Weiss, you don't-" Ruby started only to once again be silenced by Weiss's hand.

"Ruby, it's okay." Weiss waited for Ruby's nod before turning back to the group. "This morning… my grandfather passed. He was the only family member I've been able to talk to since Beacon. I… I know it's not good timing. But I used it to escape my father's clutches. When he realizes I'm gone, he'll be furious."

"Alright. Let's get this mission started." Ren finally spoke as he turned to walk away, waving for Nora to join him.

"Just give him some time." Jaune whispered to Weiss as the three started to follow. "He's just looking out for us in his own way."

"I know." Weiss sighed. "And I don't blame him. I understand why he's hesitant to accept me into the team. You four have been together for months and I just showed up."

"I… guess you're right." Jaune sighed. "But with the trail going cold in Haven, we're going to need all the help we can get."

"It's good to have a new teammate." Ruby smiled as she pulled both her friends into a quick hug. "Now let's go and solve a problem!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Are you sure you're not cold, Anna?" Elsa asked with concern. Even being immune to the cold's negative effects, she could still feel just how freezing the air that touched her exposed skin was. It was the type of cold that penetrated you to your bones and could easily kill even a skilled survivalist in a matter of minutes. She thought it ironic that the relief she'd had when creating her Ice Castle at the top of the North Mountain in order to dissuade people from approaching was now a cause for concern as her very much non magical sister accompanied her with nothing but a light dress and an equally thin cloak which had now been wrapped around her waist for the past half hour.

"I said I'm fine already, Elsa. Stop worrying so much, you worrywart!" Anna chastised her sister as she sat, looking out the window. "And do you know what this 'great evil' that Grand Pabbie warned you about could be?"

"I have no clue, Anna. And I have no idea what to do about it. Arendelle has a virtually non-existent magical community." She sighed. "The only magicians we have are concerned with medicinal magic. I've also told the foreign academies that I have no interest in becoming one of their test subjects, so I doubt they'd be cooperative in this situation."

"Well, what are we going to do about it then?" Anna asked. "It was bad enough when Arendelle froze and, no offence, that was just an accident. Imagine if there was someone like you who _wanted_ to make problems."

Elsa nodded as Anna shivered at her own proposition. She had almost doomed the entire capital in nothing more than an attempt to flee the castle. If she were intent on an attack, she didn't even want to know the damage that could be done. Let alone imagine if there were more than one of her raining destruction on her country. But that's when she realized something.

"Anna, did Grand Pabbie say where this evil was coming from? He didn't did he?" Elsa asked as she thought. "So maybe it's just a prediction about the results of the Court of Nations."

"That sounds likely." Anna conceded. "But regardless of what it means, it doesn't change the fact that we're taking a break today."

"But Anna-"

"No buts Elsa." Anna waggled her finger playfully. "You've been working non-stop since we reconciled from our fight. And now I'm ordering you to take a break!"

"I'm the queen Anna, you can't order me around." Elsa argued indignantly. "We have to make sure the kingdom is safe, and to do that we need to visit our father's library in the castle. I know there's a book in there about magic that might help. And I need to meet with the advisers to see what other threats we're facing."

"Elsa, in case _you've_ forgotten, I'm the princess! Younger sister and only remaining family of the Queen." Anna said as if she were announcing herself. "It's my job to make sure you don't kill yourself trying to keep this kingdom from going crazy. Because if I have to become queen, you know that the place won't last long. Also, last time I checked, it could survive a day without it's queen."

"But Anna-" Elsa protested again, only to receive a glare from her sister.

"After all this time apart, I think it's within my right to want to spend time with you." Anna huffed angrily.

"Anna…" Elsa sighed as a slight blush worked its way to her face.

"Yes Elsa?" Anna asked innocently, her mood flipping quicker than Elsa could blink.

"You're not giving this up, are you?" She asked in defeat. She already knew it was impossible to continue this argument. After all, she had promised to spend time with her today to help mend the hole that fourteen years of separation had ripped in their lives.

"Not for a million snowflakes!" Anna grinned.

"How about two?" Elsa bargained with a grin, knowing exactly what Anna was asking.

"Tell you what, keep them coming and I'll let you know." Anna said as she looked out the window as Elsa waved her hand and the thin clouds above them grew darker and started unleashing a gentle dusting of snow.

"Since when did you get so greedy?" Elsa teased as Anna reached out to catch a flake on her hand. When she pulled it in, it didn't melt as Anna kept looking at the fine intricacies of the flake.

"Only since I realized I could be when it comes to you." Anna smirked at the blush on her sister's face as she blew the still frozen snowflake out the window of the carriage again.

Elsa remained silent for the rest of the ride to the Ice Castle, thinking of whether or not she should ever admit to Anna what she was unintentionally doing by wishing to be as close as sister's that had spent their lives together. To Elsa, Anna was essentially a stranger, but one that seemed to be oddly intimate around her. She knew that it was what sister's were supposed to be like, but she couldn't convince herself that Anna was just being sisterly due to the estrangement she felt toward her. She'd known all about Anna from afar for the past decade, but never once made any move to approach her or contact her. The only exception being the doll that Anna had left her outside her door one night. It had been the Anna doll from the matching pair that Anna had always played with. Shortly after she'd started shutting herself off in her room, Elsa had found the doll with a small note outside her door. The note had said that Elsa needed the doll so she wouldn't be lonely because Anna wanted to keep the one of her sister. Elsa had written two words on a new paper and slipped it under Anna's door before she returned to her room. What nobody knew about that is that Elsa had kept the doll and till this day it lay in a place of honour on her bed. She'd forbidden the servants from entry to her quarters unless she specifically asked, so she knew it would be safe. Especially with the royal guard positioned outside at all hours of the day to protect the monarch from any unsavoury plots.

Elsa sighed in defeat. It was quiet, but apparently still enough to catch her sister's attention as the next moment Anna was pressed up against her side, looking into her face.

"If it really means so much to you, we can go back…" Anna muttered quietly. Elsa could see she really didn't want to offer, but she cared for her too much to ignore her distress.

"No Anna, I was just thinking about…" She trailed off, wondering what she should say that wouldn't come across as strange. "I suppose about us. We're still practically strangers even if we are sisters."

"Well, we didn't see each other for years and years, so I guess that's kind of unavoidable, right?" Anna asked as she formulated a plan. "I guess we could just start to learn about each other by spending time together? And we can ask questions!"

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked, now curious as to what Anna could possibly want to know about her.

"Well… what's your favourite colour?"

"Blue, yours?"

"Green. How about food? Wait, it's chocolate isn't it?" Anna asked as she remembered the reaction they'd had at the post-coronation party before the traitor had come into their lives. Elsa nodded, so she started thinking of something else. "Favourite thing to do when nobody is around?"

"Read, I suppose…" Elsa replied hesitantly, thinking up a rather embarrassing alternative to that answer as she averted her eyes from her sister. "What about you?"

"Hmm… I guess… seeing if you'd open your door." Anna said quietly as she too settled into silence. Elsa glanced back up at her sister and sighed at seeing her look so down.

"Well, I promise you that from now on it'll always be open for you." Elsa said into the silence. She watched her sister nod and lean closer.

"I love you Elsa." Anna spoke as she wrapped her sister in a hug. "I missed you so much."

"Shh… I'm right here." Elsa replied, brushing her hand through Anna's hair. She felt her sister almost purr in response as she found a rhythm for her strokes. "I'll never shut you out again, I swear it."

"Alright…" Anna nodded but didn't release the queen. "I just had one question for you. But I get if you don't want to answer, it's-"

"What is it Anna? If I can answer it I'd like to." Elsa replied quickly. "I want my sister back in my life just as much as you do."

"Okay… well… did you ever think of me when we were apart?" Anna asked quietly.

"Every day that went by, Anna." Elsa sighed as she pulled her sister tighter into the embrace. "I want to thank you for that doll that you gave me back when I first started avoiding you. It really helped me through some tough days when I wanted nothing more than to open my door as you asked me to come out."

"Why didn't you?" Anna asked in the way that said she already expected what the answer would be.

"I didn't want to hurt you anymore." Elsa said, getting a nod from her sister.

"So instead you hurt both of us to keep me safe from your ice powers." She said. Elsa couldn't dismiss the fact that Anna's logic was accurate. And she hated it more than anything else she could ever imagine. As if voicing her thoughts, Anna continued. "I really hated our parents, you know. For years I accused them of stealing you away from me, but I never said a word to them."

"Instead you just went around causing a ruckus." Elsa joked, remembering the reports the staff had brought her every so often about how her sister was doing. They'd talk to her through the door, though, as she was afraid of coming too close or losing control of her powers while in their company.

"Heh, pretty much." Anna shrugged as she removed herself from the hug. "I did whatever I thought of that could maybe get your attention and get you to come racing out of your room. Come to think of it, I'm surprised I didn't get hurt more often."

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked, not remembering anything that would get her seriously hurt. Only things that would disrupt the day to day in the castle.

"Well, did you ever hear of the time I took a horse up to the northern lookout?" Anna asked curiously, receiving a hesitant nod from her sister. "Well, I didn't so much as take it up as ride it up."

"Anna! You did what?!" Elsa exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, I rode him up that tower, and he's the one I rode into the kitchen, and the art room and the music room, and I almost convinced him to sled down the stairs except Mom stopped that one." Anna bragged as she remembered her chaotic childhood. "I also managed to set a salad on fire when I was preparing it for him."

"Anna, you shouldn't be so reckless!" Elsa reprimanded her. "And how do you set salad for a horse on fire?"

"Well, I don't remember exactly how I did that, but it happened." Anna shrugged. "But I was always hoping that maybe you'd come out of your room, even if it was to yell at me for being reckless. I just really wanted to see you sometimes."

"Oh Anna…" Elsa sighed. She'd known that Anna was a part of her life that she missed for a long time, and had come to terms with living with the fact. But it seemed she was just as big a part of Anna's and she'd never once thought about the effect her isolation would have on her sister, choosing to believe she was protecting her. Instead, Anna had been placing herself in danger in order to draw her attention, and that was something she didn't want. "I never want you to do something reckless like that again! If you want my attention, I promise all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you Elsa. You have no idea how much I wanted to hear you say that." Anna sighed as she once again leaned into her sister, cuddling up to her arm. After a moment of silence, Anna shifted slightly. "So… how much longer till we get there?"

"Look outside." Elsa replied with a slight giggle.

Outside the carriage, the path suddenly opened from walls of ice and rock to show a steady rise. Atop the rise, the ice castle loomed into view on the next pass over, the glittering stairs of ice shining in the afternoon sun as they slowly approached them. The entire castle seemed to be dark, with large cracks from where Elsa had supercooled the ice in her desperation the last time she'd been there. The structure, she knew, was still sound, but there was nothing that she could do except replace the ice to remove the cracks that ran through the walls. But she'd do that another time when Anna wasn't with her just in case her powers went out of control again.

"Elsa?" Anna asked as she gazed out at the castle through the light snow as they came to a stop. Elsa was almost immediately reminded of her childhood when Anna would always ask to play, as Anna turned away from the sparkling ice outside their carriage to look into her eyes. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"


	6. Chapter 6

"My god!" Weiss gasped as team RNJRS crested the final hill to view the next town. The place was literally reduced to splinters as if a bomb had gone off in every building. Several times over.

"That doesn't look good." Ren agreed as he continued to approach with Nora. "The most recent messenger came through here about a week ago. Fan out and look for survivors."

"Come on, Weiss. Hopefully we can find someone to tell us what happened." Ruby said as she started in a slightly different direction.

Weiss followed, wading carefully through the wreckage, finding nothing but the remains of several people poking out of various piles of the wreckage. There was a single plume of smoke coming from farther into the village, but she assumed that it was just from a heater that hadn't yet run out of its dust supply. Around her, there was the evidence of buildings in the way of foundations with the major supports still jutting out into the air before they were shredded into rugged points as if something had chewed or ripped at them.

It wasn't the first time she'd seen carnage, seeing as the SDC had it's fair share of problems, but this was on an entirely different level. The attack didn't just gut the place like what had happened in Mountain Glenn, but it had erased the town almost completely. She could see the other four members of her team walking around and occasionally bending to investigate something but she doubted they'd find any survivors or clues to what had happened.

But in reality, she already knew what had happened. The creatures of grimm, though not often this aggressive, could easily do this much damage with relatively few numbers. Especially when people were scared and unexperienced in aura use and combat. She approached the nearest foundation to get a better look at the shredded remains of the posts sticking out of the ground. The splintered portion wouldn't be of much use as it had obviously been hit hard enough to simply break the beam, but the marks on the edge of the wood suggested teeth had gnawed on the beam before it had been broken. She guessed that they were from a Beowolf, but couldn't be sure as small Ursi had only slightly larger teeth.

She looked around at the team, remembering each of their strong suits from when they were in Beacon. Nora had been the one who excelled at tracking grimm, Ren excelled at hand to hand combat against other people, Jaune was typically more strategy oriented than combat oriented, and Ruby was an ace when it came to dispatching grimm as well as formulating strategies on the fly. Weiss knew she was the one who often helped Ruby prepare a variety of strategies as a preemptive measure, and liked to think she was good at reading the geography of a battleground to find advantages.

"Hey Nora?" Weiss called as she straitened up. "Can you tell what grimm made these marks?"

"You bet!" Nora replied, approaching a different foundation closer to her and crouching as she investigated the marks. "Looks like big Beowolves from this one, but the impacts that shattered most of these buildings couldn't have happened from them. Definitely not strong enough to create this destruction."

"What do you think did this then?" Jaune called back from his position as he continued deeper into the village with Ren and Ruby.

"I know a Goliath would be able to do this, but that doesn't explain the death toll. Those guys are pretty slow." Nora replied, and Weiss almost flinched at how unfeeling the girl's response had been. It just reminded Weiss of how much these four had seen in the five months that she'd been living comfortably in Atlas City.

"I heard a guy speaking about there being an increase of Beringel attacks on the continent." Ren supplied to the conversation.

"That could be…" Nora thought for a moment. "If the last encounter we had was anything to go by, then a whole pack of them could have been more than enough. Never mind if there were Alphas with them."

"Sorry, but what's a Beringel?" Weiss asked as she continued on to join up with the rest of her team.

"Right, you wouldn't know." Ruby perked up as if just remembering. "After the stuff at Vale was over, there were reports of rare grimm activity increasing."

"Professor Port gave us a digital copy of his grimmoire, here." Jaune tossed his scroll to Weiss who caught it with a glyph before allowing it to drop into her hand.

"Let's see…" Weiss flicked through the index that listed at least a hundred different grimm. She'd only really heard of a few which she assumed were the more common types. She shuddered as she looked over the five that had been combined to create her Beacon entry test, and reminded herself that her father couldn't touch her so long as she was with her team. She pushed the thought aside and found the entry to the Beringel and brought up the description.

If the picture didn't speak to the brute strength of the creature, then the description of it's combat abilities and tendencies was enough to inform her that she was very lucky she was with her team at the moment. Her fighting style would do horribly little to a creature that was all about close combat and that possessed a high stamina. It wouldn't be impossible to fight, but difficult without the use of her semblance's summoning ability.

"Alright." She tossed the scroll back to Jaune who caught it after a slight fumble and replaced it in his pocket. "I'll get a copy of that later. So I'm guessing these Beringel's move across the ground like most other grimm, right Nora?"

"Pretty much. They're a bit harder to track because they tend to jump from place to place, so I won't be much help this time." Nora replied.

"That's fine, I think I have an idea of what we can do." Weiss replied. "But let's finish this sweep first."

The five of them continued to search for any sign of survivors, but it was painfully obvious that they were at least a week too late. The few bodies that weren't crushed in rubble held mortal wounds that had caused them to bleed out. The stench of death was still light due to the cold climate, but it was unmistakably present. Weiss was unfortunate enough to find a girl that couldn't have been older than nine or ten impaled through the chest on what appeared to be a metal bar. From the position of the bar, she could tell that the girl had undoubtedly survived to suffer a pain she could only imagine until she eventually succumbed at least hours after she'd been impaled. It was an image that she knew would haunt her, but this was the life she'd chosen. She'd known that things like this happened, but there was a difference between acknowledging that fact and seeing it's validity in person.

"Weiss? Are you okay?" Ruby asked as Weiss approached her and the rest of the group who were setting their packs down for the moment.

"I'll be fine, just… don't go back there." Weiss warned with a nod of her head in the direction she'd come from.

"Right. So what was that idea about the grimm?" Ruby asked, switching topics as she knew all too well the type of thing that would cause her partner's already pale skin to lose it's remaining colour.

"Here." Weiss set her pack down and pulled out a book. The rest of the team gathered around her as she opened it to reveal an atlas of Remnant. "We're approximately here."

Weiss pointed to a spot on a local map of the Mantle region of Atlas. She flipped a few pages to find a topographical map of the hills and valleys of the region.

"We're in a sort of valley here, but the grimm could have come over the hills from anywhere, but I think it's likely they'd come from this direction." She pointed out a break along the northeastern hillside. "The ravine here is fairly short, but it's a perfect place for a nest. Not to mention it falls along a Grimm Line."

"What's a Grimm Line?" Jaune asked in confusion and Ren sighed.

"A Grimm Line is a myth that says by connecting certain notable geographical sites such as volcanoes, mountain ranges, and dust deposits, you can get an approximate grid that represents the flow of Remnant's power and normally results in grimm following that line when they aren't attracted to our fear and other negative emotions." Ren summarized. "It's a myth because it has never been proven scientifically, though it's not for a lack of lives wasted in attempts to do so."

"I'm not saying your summary is wrong, but you seem to disregard the fact that my family owns the largest dust company on Remnant." Weiss said scathingly. "Of course we're going to have information that isn't publicly available, even if you're right on the fact that it isn't complete."

"What do you mean then? If these lines are Grimm Lines then there's nothing intersecting that ravine." Ruby pointed out as the line did indeed miss the entire area by about ten kilometres to the north.

"Well, you see how the lines curve? That's because they never actually touch the sources of power that are used." Weiss commented. "If we can assume that this line is curving up and arcing over this area, it has to be because of this dust deposit here."

Weiss pointed out the line and the circle on the map that indicated the dust reserve. It took Ruby a moment to notice that all the lines Weiss was referring to were drawn in by hand, and that the book looked older than any book she'd seen before. Thinking about it, she should have realized that when she'd seen the old leather cover.

"That specific deposit was completely depleted approximately two months ago, so assuming that the next closest power source will change the draw of the line, I'd guess that the line fell back down to about here."

Weiss pulled a pencil out of her bag and carefully traced a new arc between the previous points and the new power source that would draw the line. Ruby watched as the line intersected the ravine perfectly.

"And why does it curve like that now? For convenience?" Ren asked skeptically.

"No, because that reserve had an estimated ten billion tons of dust, and this one only has two." Weiss stated, writing the deposit capacities on the map as well. "Assuming that previous arc is accurate, an arc in the opposite direction with a magnitude of twenty percent is the final resting place of the Grimm Line."

"It does make sense, and it's not like it's too far to go." Jaune stated after a moment of thought. "I say we check it out."

"I still say it's a waste of time." Ren replied, looking to Nora and Ruby.

"Well… I'd like to say it's a good idea, but I've never known anyone tracking with a Grimm Line to be successful." Nora stated with an apologetic look at Weiss.

"I say we give it a try because we don't have anything else to go on, what do we have to lose?" Ruby asked with a shrug. "It's up to you then, Weiss?"

"Well… I'd like to know whether or not this theory is actually reliable." Weiss mused as she closed the book and put it away. "And there's no guarantee we'll actually find anything even if it was reliable. But as Ruby's said, we don't have much else to go on tracking-wise. Right Nora?"

"Well, I could probably find something but it could take a while." Nora shrugged. "But I don't think we have time for that. It'll start to get dark in a few hours and we'll need to set up camp."

"Nora's right." Jaune nodded. "Let's give this a try and then we can always come back and look more tomorrow if we don't find anything."

"Alright team RNJRS! Let's go!" Ruby cheered as she turned to walk away.

"Team RNJRS?" Nora asked with a sour face. "That's sort of dull isn't it?"

"Well, what do you want to call us then?" Ruby asked with a look of hurt on her face.

"How about… Team RAWLN?" Nora asked excitedly. "It's like we're brawlin' without bras!"

Silence fell as the two men in the team turned away from them as they coughed and scratched their necks awkwardly.

"That might work if we were all male, Nora." Weiss sighed, but couldn't help but crack a smile at Jaune and Ren's reaction.

"But I do-mmph!" Nora said as Ruby covered her mouth quickly.

"WE do, Nora." Ruby said pointedly with a nod to Weiss.

"Oh, I guess that won't work then." Nora deflated as Ruby released her. Weiss shared a questioning look with Ruby who seemed to be telling her to just ignore it. "OH I KNOW! How about RWVJR? Like, cause we're the avengers of Vale and we're going to get revenge on Cinder and everyone who helped her?"

"That sounds fine, Nora." Ren piped in as he and Jaune started to walk away from the girls. Weiss had the idea that it was in fear of Nora making another inappropriate comment about something they didn't need, or want to know.

"Alright!" Nora cheered. "Team RWVJR off on their first official mission as a team!"

Weiss watched with Ruby as she ran up and nearly tackled Ren as she latched onto his arm. She turned to Ruby slightly to see her shaking her head but smiling still.

"They're together. But not together." Ruby whispered to her partner as they started to follow at a distance. "Me and Jaune have a bet about who confesses to who first."

"You sound too much like Yang." Weiss replied as she nudged Ruby in the ribs, making her giggle. "But it's obvious she'll have to tell him she wants more."

"Sort of like you did?" Ruby asked, coming to a stop. Weiss felt her throat go dry as Ruby looked deeply into her eyes. "Listen, Weiss-"

"I know, I shouldn't have just sprung that on you out of the blue." Weiss cut the girl off. "But my feelings haven't changed. Even if we're walking through wilderness toward a potentially huge grimm nest with absolutely no hope of backup, I'm still happier because you're here than I would be if I was sitting with my father at the SDC. I don't regret my decision to come along."

"Actually, what I was going to say was that I know I just told you I'd like to take things slow, and think about it more, but… I think I'd actually like to give it, I mean us, a try." Ruby blushed and looked down. "I mean, I've been thinking a lot and… you know… um… I know I like you a lot, but… well…would you be my girlfriend?"

Weiss almost wasn't able to contain the excitement that burst through her as she registered Ruby's words. She wanted to jump and shout, something that a Schnee _never_ did under _any_ circumstances, _ever_. But more importantly, she wanted to make sure that Ruby was comfortable with her decision.

"Ruby, I'd love to be your girlfriend." She replied quietly, afraid her voice would carry ahead on the gentle breeze. Ruby looked up into her eyes with a demure smile on her face that had Weiss melting on the inside. "We can still go slow. I want to make sure we're not making a mistake, but… will you kiss me?"

Ruby closed the gap between their lips for their first kiss as girlfriends. Weiss completely surrendered herself to Ruby and sunk into her warm embrace as she herself wrapped Ruby as tightly as was comfortable, considering both had huge backpacks on their backs.

"Hey! Stop messing around and get a move on!" Ren called, obviously disgruntled by the display that he hadn't expected to bear witness to.

"What's… Oh!" Nora shouted from ahead. "I want one too! Ren, come here!"

"Down Nora!" Ren yelled in a rare panic, as Weiss and Ruby parted to look at Jaune scratching his head as Nora attempted to catch Ren who dodged out of her grasp repeatedly while repeating that she wanted a kiss too.

"Is it normally like this?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

"Only on the good days." Ruby laughed as she took Weiss's hand and started leading her up to the rest of the group. "On the bad days, she catches him."

"And they're still not together?" Weiss asked incredulously.

"Nope, it's more of a… you know what? I have no clue what it is. But… it's pretty funny to watch." Ruby laughed as they joined Jaune. "Hey Jauney boy, ready to go?"

"Let's just get this over with." Jaune sighed as he walked away, leaving the two couples to their own devices. Weiss felt bad as she remembered Pyrrha had always been the one closest to the blond swordsman. But now he was alone and surrounded by two couples that were more or less happy. Weiss didn't exactly have experience with the feeling, but she knew it must hurt, so she turned to Ruby as they started to follow slowly.

"Maybe we shouldn't act like anything more than teammates around him." Weiss suggested, even if it hurt to imagine forcing a certain distance between herself and Ruby. But Jaune was her friend too, even if she had been annoyed by his constant attempts to ask her out at Beacon.

"I don't really want to, but it would probably be better." Ruby sighed as she reluctantly dropped Weiss's hand. "At least for the time being."

"And at least I brought us a few tents to sleep in." Weiss smiled at Ruby, knowing as she watched her girlfriend's eyes light up that her meaning was clear.

"I'm looking forward to it then." Ruby replied smugly as she snuck a quick kiss onto Weiss's cheek before running over to save Ren from the kiss obsessed Nora. Ruby gave Nora a smack on the back of her head, making Weiss chuckle as Ruby became the new target for her energy.

The two ran around as Ren approached Weiss and the two simply watched Jaune walk away and Ruby and Nora run back and forth behind him as Nora tried to catch the elusive girl.

"You do know what you're getting into, right?" Ren asked after a moment of contemplative silence.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked cautiously. She could tell Ren was trusting her for the sake of the rest of the team but knew she still had a long way to go before she earned his trust again.

"Ruby puts up a strong front, but she's more fragile than anyone gives her credit for. Yang asked me to keep an eye on her, so that's what I've been doing." Ren replied with a sigh. "She cries herself to sleep most nights, Weiss. These past months haven't been kind to any of us, but they've been especially cruel to her."

"I… can understand that." Weiss said quietly. "If you're asking me to go back to just being friends, the answer's no. I left this decision up to her, and I trust her to make the right one for herself."

"Even if that means you're out of the picture?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I… I hope it doesn't come to that." Weiss mumbled, but she knew Ren would be able to hear her. "But yes, even if it means I'm out of the picture."

The two walked in silence for a moment before Ren spoke up again.

"You know, the reason why I won't accept Nora's advances is because I can't answer that last question like you did." Ren replied with a wry grin. "I'm too greedy to give Nora up, and that's why I won't start a more intimate relationship with her. It wouldn't be fair to our friendship if she wanted to end it and I couldn't let her go."

"Maybe our thinking is backward." Weiss commented. Ren shrugged in response.

"Maybe. But for now everything seems okay as it is." Ren replied after a pause. "Just don't hurt her. She's like a sister to us."

"I wont." Weiss replied quickly. "And I hope you'll think of me like that one day."

"Oh, I didn't say we don't." Ren replied simply. "But Ruby's been here longer."

With that, he walked away to join the team as Weiss continued to watch her teammates chase each other. They were a team, a family. Ruby was like her sister, but so much more at the same time. But the others were still like another team to her. She knew it was pointless to worry at this point, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was intruding on their team. She pushed the thoughts from her head and continued on. It wouldn't take long to get to that ravine, and if she was right, she'd need to be ready for a fight. She picked up her pace to rejoin the group as she looked at the thick clouds that threatened snow. Night would fall soon.


	7. Chapter 7

"Come on Elsa! Keep up!"

Elsa laughed as she followed her sister through the blizzard she'd started around their castle. It had taken Anna only moments of whining to convince her to do it, but she only gave in since Anna had requested walls to make sure neither of them fell off the mountain. Whether or not that was a good idea to even enable them to play around in the snow was a question that Elsa pushed from her mind. She had to learn how to use her powers and that meant some degree of unpredictability before she learnt exactly how everything worked.

"Elsa?" Anna asked in confusion as Elsa kept walking past her. When she realized Elsa had sucked herself back into her own thoughts, Anna decided to get her attention in the way only she could without being imprisoned for treason.

Elsa thought about all the different things she'd done with her powers, and had to admit that the sheer range of possibilities seemed endless as not once had she ever had any trouble with any of her creations. Well, unless she'd created it for that purpose. She still felt terrible about both incidents with her sister, and wouldn't forgive herself for making a third.

"ELSA!" Elsa spun toward her sister's voice which was inexplicably behind her and her head snapped back as the ball of snow impacted. She stumbled and fell into the snow, having not expected to be hit in the head.

"That hurt, Anna!" Elsa complained as she gathered herself.

"Well, you weren't paying attention!" Anna complained as she approached. "But are you okay? I didn't mean to throw that hard…"

"I'm fine, thank you." Elsa said as her sister knelt beside her. "But you won't be!"

Elsa pulled Anna to the ground as she quickly stuffed a handful of snow down the back of her dress, even though she knew that it wouldn't do much with Anna's new resistance to the cold. Anna shrieked as she fought off her older sister and rolled so Elsa was on the bottom. Then she started returning the favour along with throwing the occasional handful of snow in her face.

Elsa laughed as she tried to fight off Anna, but she had a hard time. She hadn't noticed it before, but Anna was strong. Her arms and legs were tone and fairly firm muscle where Elsa's were slim and soft. Not to say that she wasn't fit, but Anna was obviously physically active on a regular basis. Elsa laughed as she tried to push her sister up but the snow melting on the fabric of her dress made everything slippery and the next thing she knew, her hands were sliding upward to find purchase.

"Eep!" Anna squeaked as she felt Elsa's hands land on her breasts. She was so surprised by the sudden contact that Elsa flipped her onto her back before she let go.

The two remained still and silent as Anna kept her head to the side and her eyes averted from her sister hovering over her.

"I…" Anna started, clearing her throat. "I wasn't expecting that."

"I-I'm sorry Anna." Elsa said quietly and sincerely. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

"I know." Anna replied as she turned to face her sister. Elsa's face was red and it wasn't lost on the royals that Elsa was straddling her sister, pinning her to the frozen ground. Their eyes met as Anna felt a flutter she'd originally thought to be excitement start up in her stomach. She'd just recently realized that the feeling was only ever present with Elsa, especially when they were close together.

"I'm sorry." Elsa said as she took a deep breath and started to push herself away. Anna reached out and grabbed her sister's wrist and pulled, sending her crashing down into her. Elsa was barely able to cushion herself with her free arm so she didn't squish Anna in her fall.

Elsa froze as she realized their position. Their chests were pressed together tightly and Anna still gripped her forearm tightly. Anna's other arm had come to rest on her hip, but not as a support. Elsa felt like Anna was holding her against her body purposely. Anna's eyes met hers again, this time searching as their breaths mingled in the frozen air of the North Mountain.

"Can I…?" Anna asked through a breath that tickled Elsa's lips.

Elsa didn't know what her sister was asking, knowing just how strange the idea was that Anna had been thinking something similar to her own forbidden musings. Nevertheless, Elsa felt a thrill of excitement rush through her like that of her magic, but different because she knew that Anna was it's source. She didn't nod, but she kept herself still in Anna's embrace. She closed her eyes in order to attempt to find some semblance of control that Anna had taken from her but all thoughts of doing so went out of her head fairly quickly as she realized what was happening.

Anna pressed her lips into her own gently, as if she was afraid of breaking her elder sister. The soft velvety feel of them sent a spark of excitement through her as some part of her realized that this kiss, even if it was with her sister, was leagues better than any she'd shared with Christoff. And she couldn't help but also realize that she wanted to kiss Elsa again even though they hadn't finished this kiss yet.

Elsa broke the kiss as she snapped her eyes onto Anna's in a search for the honesty that Anna had used in committing the forbidden act. She found it there in her gentle smile and small tears that threatened to leave her eyes and freeze. Elsa smiled down at her sister and closed the gap between them, this time prepared for the kiss that Anna had surprised her with.

Elsa kept the kiss light and gentle, and was thankful when she felt Anna's lips move to push back against hers. It meant the world to Elsa that the one person she cared more for than anything else would be able to feel even a semblance of what she felt. And right here on the North Mountain, nothing else mattered but them. None of the townsfolk or priests would object to what they'd never know and Elsa dared to wonder just how far down this path she was willing to go if Anna's feelings held true.

But Anna's lips were so warm even in the freezing cold, she could tell that her magic wouldn't affect her sister. The one fear that had kept them apart for so long, and even after their reconciliation, fell away as she continued to move her lips against her sisters, gently sucking on the skin in a mirror of Anna's own actions. The taste was light and the sensation so breathtaking, she didn't even realize when Anna had rolled her to her back. Only that her hand had left her hip to pull her head into a more impassioned kiss.

Elsa gasped for breath and Anna swiped her tongue along Elsa's lower lip as the two made eye contact. Elsa was afraid of what her sister was thinking, but the roaring fire she'd lit beneath her skin was something that pushed all rational thought from her mind. She met her sister's tongue with her own in the frigid afternoon air and pulled her sister closer, sealing their lips back together as their tongues twisted and twined around their counterparts.

Elsa didn't know how long they remained there laying on the ground, but by the time she'd caught her breath and stood up while pulling Anna with her, she had surrendered to the knowledge that she was hopelessly in love, a romantic love, with her own blood related sister. It was something that she'd only heard about from history as it had already been standard for royalty to marry with others of high class when other royalty was unsuitable or unavailable, but before that practise she'd heard of royals who'd married their own siblings or immediate relatives in order to keep pure blood lines. She'd never imagined that she'd be considering the exact same thing with the young flower that held her hand and whose aqua eyes looked deep into her own with nothing less than unbridled love.

"We… we need to talk about this." Elsa finally broke their silence as Anna continued to look deeply into her eyes. The cloud that swept momentarily across Anna's face enough to inform the queen that her younger sister understood what she was talking about perfectly.

"Y-yeah." Anna breathed heavily. Elsa couldn't believe she'd actually made her sister breathless with the kiss, but the heaving chest of her younger sister was proof that Elsa hadn't been the only one to enjoy the intimacy. The two watched each other in stunned silence for a moment before a gust of wind ruffled their soaking dresses. "Okay, I know I'm not bothered by the cold anymore, but can we change into something a little dryer? Because I don't know how much longer I'll be able to walk before this dress freezes solid."

Elsa took in her sisters words slowly as her sudden change in attitude brought a laugh to her lips. "Come here."

Anna wrapped her arm around her sister as the two rushed into the ice castle. Elsa pushed the heavy door closed to block out the wind. She considered how she'd be able to warm the building up briefly as she realized the temperature wasn't any warmer inside than it was outside, but gave up as she realized she was getting distracted. She turned to find a trail of clothes starting to freeze to the floor leading up the steps to the upper level of the castle. She was surprised Anna had moved so quickly but at the same time, she'd expected her to do something like that.

Elsa picked up the frozen shoe closest to her and followed the sparse trail, picking up the clothing and hanging it over her arm. She collected socks a skirt as well as the top of Anna's dress. But it was when she was on the top landing, only a few steps from the closed door that led to nothing but a bedroom, that she stopped. Laying on the ground in a decidedly obvious display was a pair of undergarments that told Elsa two things. Her little sister was completely nude, and she was behind that door. Elsa took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and stepped into the room, keeping her eyes on the floor as she turned to close the door. She placed Anna's wet clothing on the ice table next to the door, knowing that she'd need a change from the carriage if she wanted something dry. Meaning that she obviously had considered her elder sister's ability to create clothing from ice to change…. But there was also one more option that she simply failed, or rather refused, to acknowledge.

"Elsa? Are you just going to stand there?" Her little sister's voice asked. Elsa carefully turned, bracing herself for what she'd see when her eyes finally settled on her sister. Laying under the ice covers of the bed. Elsa sighed as she waved her hand down the length of her dress, transforming the dress into night clothes. She waved her hand over her free hand and created a matching pair of the clothing which she handed to her sister who immediately disappeared beneath the covers. After a moment of squirming, her head popped back out with a smile. "Thanks, Els!"

"Anna, why would you leave your clothes everywhere?" Elsa sighed as she slipped beneath the sheets on the other side of the bed. "You do realize that considering what happened outside, it seemed a little forward?"

Anna averted her gaze as a small smile accented her blushing face. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it. She tried taking a deep breath and then she was finally able to whisper the words she needed to say. "I… don't really know what I'm doing, Elsa. I just want… you."

Elsa didn't know what to make of Anna's statement, but she was getting tired of dancing around words. So she decided she'd be as blunt as necessary to find out what Anna wanted, and if it was what she also wanted. "Anna, do you… love me as more than a sister?"

"W-well, Elsa, I mean-" Anna stuttered. Elsa could immediately tell that she would have to take a leap and trust Anna to catch her. She already knew what she felt was true, but she was so afraid of Anna rejecting her. But she knew that even if she wasn't the one her sister loved, her sister wouldn't just leave after everything they'd gone through. They were the only family they had left after all.

"I love you, Anna. Much more than I should." Elsa spoke to break her younger sister's rambling. "I love you so much I can't even begin to explain it. I know everything about you, but you're not the little sister I remember. You're this beautiful woman who's kind and sweet, and I know you love me for who I am. Even the winter trapped inside me recognizes you as a second master. I just… need you to tell me plainly. Do you feel the same?"

"Yes." Anna's single word was everything Elsa needed to feel a wave of relief wash over her. "Ever since before I can remember I've always had this feeling around you. When everything went wrong at your coronation, I thought it was because I could sense your magic, but I was wrong. It's a feeling I should have felt with Hans, or Christoff, but I feel it with you. I know it might not be right, or even acceptable, but I really want to be with you forever."

"No more closed doors?" Elsa joked, having caught a good mood from her sister's confession. She was rewarded with a laugh and a hug as Anna cuddled into her side.

"Nope." Anna mumbled as she drifted. Elsa realized how tired she was from actually playing with her sister for the first time in forever, as if they were kids again. Not to mention the emotional toll the last while had taken on her, bringing another wave of exhaustion. Even the barely setting sun outside the window that told her it was still early wasn't enough to stop her from succumbing to the warmth of her sister's embrace. She rested her hand atop Anna's arm as her eyes flitted closed. If today hadn't been the best day in her life so far, then it was very close.


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, that's a surprisingly small number of grimm." Ren stated as the group of five looked over a small rock atop the edge of the ravine. Below, there were around twenty grimm roaming in no specific direction. The group was fairly odd though, with a combination of a large variety of grimm, but none seemed to be part of a group as they so often found in the wilderness.

"I see a spawning pit." Ruby stated as she used the detachable scope from her weapon as a telescope. "There's something metal-looking connected to it, but I can't really make it out because it's on the far side."

Weiss watched Ruby slowly turn a dial before lowering the scope in defeat. She looked out over the expanse and watched as a freshly born Beowolf slowly climbed out of the pit, the dark ooze dripping from it's bone-like armour as if the creature was bleeding profusely.

"We should at least close the pit." Jaune stated after a moment of thought. "The less of these things in the world, the better."

"If I can get a clear shot, I could freeze it, but the grimm will probably notice us." Ruby stated as she reattached her scope and unfolded her weapon to it's sniper form.

"I think we should focus on clearing the grimm first, and the pit second." Weiss commented as she looked around at the grimm. "I'd say that priority should be the death stalker near us, and the nevermore and griffins across the field."

"Okay, so here's what we do." Jaune nodded as he looked at his team. "Ruby and Nora focus on the birds. Me and Ren will keep the attention of as many of the other grimm as possible, and try to take down the weaker ones. Weiss, you provide support to both groups since you can use your glyphs to get above the fighting to move faster. Once the birds are dead, Nora, Ren and myself will focus on the Deathstalker, leaving Ruby and Weiss to deal with the extras and the spawning pit."

"Sounds good to me. Wait till I take the first shot." Ruby replied as she motioned for Nora to follow as she pushed herself up into a crouch and started moving along the edge of the ravine with Nora in tow.

Weiss watched as the two kept low and hid behind a distant rock. Ruby aimed her scythe over the top of it while Nora rested her grenade launcher next to her. Weiss watched as the two huntresses fell completely still.

A shot rang out and Weiss watched as the Nevermore's head snapped to the side, Ruby's round having torn a large hole through the beast. It fell to the ground as all the grimm roared in disarray at the unknown assailant.

Ren and Jaune sprung from their hiding place next to Weiss with loud battle cries, drawing the grimm's attention as Nora started firing her grenade launcher like artillery to bombard the ravine. Weiss moved along the side to get a better view of the battlefield before she moved in to assist Ren and Jaune who were in the process of cutting down a boarbatusk that had led the charge toward them.

Weiss used her burn dust to send a fireball at a nearby Ursa who panicked and started flailing its arms as it's black fur caught fire. She then used some electric dust to stun the Deathstalker before it could close the gap toward her friends.

She jumped above the grimm around her and her two teammates, looking to Ruby who was attempting to shoot a Griffon who was surprisingly agile for being so young. Nora attempted to keep the avian enemy at a low height by shooting her grenade so it would explode over it's head whenever it flew too high. Weiss saw two beowolves break from the main group and start charging Ruby and one more Beowolf followed, coming straight from the spawning pit.

Weiss jumped over the battle, ignoring the angry snarls of grimm as she raced to intercept the three creatures that would distract the other two from their job. She landed next to the lead wolf, and stabbed her rapier backward through it's thin hide before letting the wolf's momentum rip itself free from her blade. The other two wolves turned on her immediately, distracted from their original target. She used her glyphs to trip the first one, allowing it to dissect itself on her blade as it fell and then dodged the slashing claws that the freshly born Beowolf sent at her. She jumped as a second slash barely missed and returned a slash that very nearly removed the grimm's arm from it's body. It roared and attempted to use it's jaws as a weapon, but Weiss took advantage of it's exposed neck and beheaded the creature before it could close the gap.

"WEISS! A LITTLE HELP?" Jaune shouted and Weiss jumped back to the large mob of grimm. She fired two fireballs at the black monsters, one of which knocked a Beowolf to the ground with a hole burned through it's center.

She landed next to Jaune who was attempting to fight off two ursi at once and immediately used some of her wind dust to knock one back. Jaune took advantage of the reprieve and countered the other Ursa's swipe with one of his own that landed the creature on the ground without a head.

"What took you so long?" Jaune joked as the other Ursa advanced with two more creeps in its wake. Weiss took out one of them with a simple thrust of her weapon that pinned it to the ground as it twitched in it's death spasm.

"Just a little busy making sure the other team wasn't ambushed." She responded as she pulled her weapon out of the dead body.

"Ren's already started on the death stalker. If you can, get Nora over here and you join Ruby. They're coming out of the pit at about four per minute, and if we get another death stalker coming before we finish this one, we'll be in trouble." Jaune instructed as he cut down his second Ursa.

Weiss froze the second creep with some ice dust and left Jaune to his battle. There were only about four more grimm besides the death stalker, and it seemed they were already learning that rushing into battle against the team wasn't the best of ideas. She found Ruby and Nora in pretty much the same stalemate she'd left them in, except there were now two avian grimm coming at them from different directions, and Ruby had slowed her shooting in an attempt to make her shots more accurate.

Weiss watched as Nora fired a barrage to keep the grimm from flying high and came up with a strategy. She jumped on a glyph, using her wind dust to accelerate herself as she released it with a jump. She flew like an arrow directly at the first grimm which dodged to avoid her, but Weiss was able to slash one of it's wings with her rapier as she passed, sending the beast to the ground where Ruby's fifty calibre round blew it's head and neck into oblivion.

Nora fired one last round before offering Weiss a salute and heading to assist the other half of their team, the round exploded uncomfortably close to Weiss as she landed on a glyph next to the second Griffon. It shrieked in surprise at her arrival and attempted to slash at her with it's front talons, but failed as Ruby's round tore it's front leg off and then fell silent as Weiss froze it with ice dust.

The creature fell to the ground and shattered as Weiss jumped back to her partner.

"Thanks for the assist!" Ruby gave Weiss a high five as they joined up.

"Jaune said the pit spawns about four per minute. We need to close it ASAP." Weiss stated as she watched a Taijitu slither out from the depths of said puddle. "And now we have to deal with that."

"I got that thing, you get the pit." Ruby said as she rushed forward with her semblance. Weiss followed at her much slower speed as she watched the second head of the snake pop out of the black puddle for a moment before Ruby's scythe bit into it's neck and the following shot ripped it's head clean off. The second head lunged at her partner and Ruby swung her scythe down into the thick bone on it's head, pushing it's attack below her as she used it's body to slide back to the ground.

Weiss had only gone a few meters when she heard a loud buzzing noise come from over the opposite side of the ravine. A second later, large, barrel-chested grimm raced down the hillside, their huge arms swinging their bodies at an alarming speed. She counted seven in total and swore, changing directions to return to Ruby. The pit would have to wait.

"Ruby, regroup on Jaune!" She shouted as she intercepted the lunge of the giant snake, sending her rapier through it's eye before firing a round of ice dust. The creature dissolved as Weiss shattered the ice with a second slash and turned to find the others on their team already in combat with the first Beringel.

"If you have any ideas, now would be the time!" Ruby shouted as one of the creatures reached them, taking a swipe at Ruby who barely dodged and countered, sending the creature back only for a second to take it's place.

"One." Weiss replied, launching herself back from her partner. She summoned a glyph, focusing intently on the creature she'd killed in her pre-Beacon training. Alone, it wouldn't be able to handle the grimm, but it would be able to take a hit. And that was all Weiss needed at the moment.

"Any second now would be nice!" Ruby shouted, shooting a glancing shot off a Beringel that had been heading past her to Weiss. It turned and refocused on Ruby as she continued to fend off two of it's brethren.

Weiss glanced up, praying to whatever gods might exist that her summon would work. She heard Ruby yelp as she was thrown from the group, barely landing on her feet to defend against a second blow. Weiss was about to give up when suddenly, an arm popped straight out of her glyph. She focused harder and the rest of the knight jumped out, throwing it's sword at one of Ruby's three opponents who fell to the ground lifeless as the giant sword had pierced all the way through it's chest.

Alarmed at their new attacker, the dark apes met the unarmed knight head on. Weiss focused on controlling the movements of the knight, hoping Ruby would see that she wasn't in a position to move at the moment.

The next minutes were spent with Weiss's knight guarding against the creatures while Ruby attempted, and succeeded at killing them. By the time they'd finished their small battle, the other four attacking their teammates had been reduced to one.

"They're good, lets…" Ruby trailed off as she watched the dark cloud just above the far rise of the ravine. "FALL BACK! LANCERS!"

Weiss followed Ruby who left a trail of rose petals in her wake as she raced up the side of the ravine they'd come from. Once there, she opened fire, the rounds ripping into the cloud as small black specs fell from it. Next to her, Weiss found Jaune and Ren finishing off the last Beringel who had lost both its legs and was flailing on the ground. Nora was replacing grenades in her weapon with ones from her belt as she ran up the side of the ravine to the place where Weiss's group had started their descent.

Weiss reached Ruby just as Ren and Jaune finished their work and stowed their weapons for a hasty retreat. Down the edge, Nora had opened fire, sending what could only be a higher quality of flak rounds into the black mass that was now spilling into the ravine. Two Beowolves had emerged from the pit during their escape, but they were quickly swallowed by the cloud of black.

"Find their queen!" Ruby ordered as she kept firing. "It'll be ten times the size of the small ones!"

Weiss looked through the fading daylight at the creatures, not seeing any thing that stood out. "They're grouped too thick. I can't make anything out.

"Hold on!" Ruby reached for her belt the second she cocked a round. She fired at the same time she ejected her current clip, slamming a new one into place and locking the bolt again in barely under a second. Weiss quickly brought up a glyph, infusing it with fire dust just as Ruby pulled her trigger, sending a streak of red through the dusk before a bright yellow explosion lit up an area of the ravine as the grimm were decimated by the explosive round.

Ruby kept firing, leaving bright streaks of light marking the air and giving a slight boost to the lighting as scores of lancers were killed. Weiss noticed Ren and Nora had taken over firing just below them on the ridge to keep any unwanted guests from their high ground. Jaune was helping Nora reload her shells as well as filling empty magazines for Ren out of his backpack. Together, the three seemed to be doing quite well. Ruby however, appeared to be on her last clip.

"Ruby, how many rounds do you have left?" Weiss asked as she looked desperately around the dwindling masses of lancers.

"About twenty explosive, fifty normal, and the rest is propellant." Ruby quickly stated as she carefully selected her next target and fired. "Nineteen explosive."

"Alright." Weiss thought quickly. The swarm wasn't too large anymore, only numbering about fifty, but still more than what could be realistically handled by a team of five in a melee. Somewhere there was a queen, but it wasn't visible, and the light was only continuing to fade as the group of assorted grimm using the swarm as cover slowly grew from the spawning pit. What they needed, was light to find the queen…. "Ruby!"

Ruby's head snapped sideways for a moment to see Weiss pointing high above them at a white glyph. Ruby smiled, aiming her rifle as Weiss moved the fire infused glyph along with her weapon.

Ruby's shot hit the white glyph perfectly and exploded into a ball of fire that shone a bright flickering yellow over the entire ravine. Weiss and Ruby were both watching as a large black blot flew away from the sudden light even as the light started to flicker and die.

"I've got it, just keep me covered." Weiss said as she dissolved her glyphs and stepped onto a new one that she used to jump over the ravine, outside of the range of the dark wasps.

Weiss heard Ruby call out to her other teammates and everywhere in the valley was set ablaze by random fire, distracting almost all the creatures from Weiss as she flew as fast as she dared toward the dark shadow that was the queen.

On instinct, Weiss dodged to the side as the queen's stinger flew past her. She landed on another glyph and attacked, sending her rapier through the stinger before the queen could retract it. Weiss almost laughed as she watched the head of the stinger fall along with an impaled ursa to the ground. She quickly braced herself as the queen slammed into her with it's body, its powerful wings giving it quite the speed.

Weiss rolled to the ground, dodging the stinger of a regular lancer before cutting it open with a slash as she found the Queen attempting to flee. She jumped back into the air, firing round after round of ice dust, which was dodged by the creature until an explosion ripped one side of its wings off entirely. Ruby would be getting a big thank you from her later.

She landed on the queen's back, slicing off it's remaining wing before summoning the sword arm of her knight which she used to pin the creature to the ground. She jumped off and drove her weapon into the soft body between two hard scales, the fire dust coating her blade frying the creature from the inside until she heard a sudden shift in the buzzing of the normal lancers which seemed to be crying out in anguish as they fell from the sky. Weiss found Jaune and Ruby finishing off the group of assorted grimm that had spawned from the pit as they were the only grimm left in any fighting condition as the drastically reduced number of lancers attempted to flee only to be met by Ren shredding their wings and legs, or Nora blasting them apart in groups.

Seeing that the others were busy, she focused back on the spawning pit.

Weiss finally reached the pit and found the strange device that Ruby'd mentioned with two thick pipes leading into the murky ooze. Weiss heard a pitiful roar and looked once more at the rest of the ravine to see the state of her teammates.

Jaune had just finished the last Beowolf, and Ren and Nora were leaning on the crushed husk of the Deathstalker that was smoking slowly. Weiss saw a claw emerge from the pit next to her and reacted with a round of ice dust that froze the ooze and then cracked as the liquid froze all the way to the bottom of the deep pit. The grimm that had once been about to crawl out was dead before it ever saw the air. That's when she heard a very obnoxious beeping that she just knew couldn't ever mean anything good.

"GET CLEAR!" Weiss shouted as she raced away from whatever that machine was, noticing a flashing red light on it's side as the beeping picked up in pitch and frequency. "NOW!"

Ruby jumped back, stumbling on the uneven ground at the sudden shout. Ruby let out a cry that could only be pain and Weiss abandoned her retreat, instead rushing to her partner. What she saw in front of her as she looked back at the machine was something she'd never seen before.

A large wave of pure darkness spread out from the machine across the ground, engulfing everything in it's path, creating a shadow like world. The air remained clear, allowing a view to the spreading black ground on the other side come to a stop at the steep ridge that marked the other end of the valley. The remnants of grimm that hadn't completely dissolved turned completely black like silhouettes, and Weiss watched in a primal terror as the darkness brought a prickling chill to the air. She pulled Ruby along as the rest of the team crested the hill and looked back.

"W-Weiss… go!" Ruby pushed her partner as she collapsed on the ground. Weiss noticed the odd angle to her leg and rushed back to help her. "No! Save yourself!"

"I'm not just going to let you die here!" Weiss shouted back as she picked Ruby up in her arms. The chill from the steadily approaching shadow was terrible, and Weiss felt her skin burning where the chilled air touched her.

Ruby fell silent as her breathing started coming in ragged gasps. Weiss fought valiantly to move but every step got harder and harder as the darkness approached. It was almost as if the blood within her veins was freezing. Ruby's breathing quieted as Weiss approached the beginning of the incline, her legs shaking from the extra strain of carrying Ruby and fighting off the cold.

Weiss saw the rest of her team waving to her to hurry as their mouths shouted words that were lost beyond the burning that sunk deep into Weiss's ears. All she knew was she needed to keep going, so she forced one foot in front of the other even as Nora tried to jump down from the ledge and was caught by Ren and dragged back over the incline. Weiss felt confused as to why the three members of their team collapsed on the hill in seeming defeat. She watched as Jaune pounded his fist into the ground, as his mouth opened seemingly in an anguished cry.

Weiss stepped forward once more before she felt her legs refuse to obey her commands.

"S-s-s-so c-c-c-c-cold…" Ruby stuttered as she kept cuddling into Weiss's arms. Weiss couldn't do anything other than bow over the girl in her arms and press one final kiss to her lips. Even then, she couldn't feel anything.


	9. Chapter 9

"-right Sven, hurry! We need to get to Oaken's quick!" A male voice shouted as Weiss felt herself drift. She could barely remember what had happened before she'd lost consciousness, but she could remember the cold. It hadn't gone away, at least not completely. She felt as if it were still biting into her aura and sapping her strength. Even so, she could feel warm blankets wrapped around her as she was bumped up and down on the not-so-comfortable wood that lay beneath another similar fabric. The decidedly unpleasant smell was something she'd never experienced before but it was easy enough to simply drift as her mind slowly reminded her of everything she seemed to have forgotten.

"Weiss…" She turned her eyes to the whisper of her name to see Ruby laying next to her under the same blanket. The scenery was of dense forest that flew by as whatever was pulling them let out a guttural snort.

"Easy boy, we're here!" The man's voice shouted as the sleigh ground to a sudden, jerking halt.

"Woo hoo!" A higher pitched voice sounded from somewhere close.

"Good timing Oaken, we need to get these girls into the sauna to warm up!" The man said as Weiss felt a strong pair of arms scoop her and a fair number of blankets up. She was still so cold she couldn't even fight. "You get the other one."

"Ooh, a little oddly dressed for the mountain, don't ya think?" The higher pitched man said as he came into view holding Ruby with a few blankets draped over her haphazardly.

"Yeah, the one I'm carrying had this strange sword. The other one had some piece of metal that seemed like it does something but I just tossed them in the sled before bringing them up." The first man explained as Weiss felt a wave of heat wash over her.

"Put them on the bench for now. Don't want to hurt them with the sauna right away." The second man said. "I'll go ask my family to prepare some hot coco!"

"Good, you do that. I'll stay here and keep an eye on them." The first man replied. A couple of slapping noises rang out before he sighed and sat down. He started whistling some tune that reminded Weiss of her childhood before her mother had passed.

Slowly, Weiss felt a burning return to her limbs as they started to warm. She was thankful that her aura was fairly useful in dulling the pain while it passed. Any frostbite she'd gotten healed as she allowed her aura to run it's course through her body. After a minute of listening to the man whistle, she was completely fine, if a little cold.

She opened her eyes to find a blond man sitting on the floor, leaning against a shelf of what appeared to be a general store. In his hands were a small piece of wood and a sharp knife that he used to gouge out a pattern as he whistled.

Weiss thought back, but couldn't place his face to anyone she'd ever encountered. He didn't appear to be White Fang either, as he was missing the typical garb that marked the lower ranks. Although the way he simply relaxed, it was almost as if he had no idea he was sitting beside two huntresses.

"Ahem." Weiss cleared her throat to get his attention. He jumped to his feet in surprise. "Where are we?"

"Oh, um… hi." The man responded with an awkward grin that gave Weiss a little hope that they hadn't been kidnapped. "I'm Christoff, I found you freezing on the way back from ice harvesting in the eastern pass. This was the closest place that had heat."

"I see." Weiss looked over to her partner who seemed slightly better as she shivered under the blanket. "Would you give us a minute?"

"S-sure." He almost stumbled as he turned and walked a few isles over and disappeared through another door.

Weiss listened to the door click shut before she got up out of her blanket and started inspecting her partner. Ruby seemed to have had the same damage she'd sustained, but Weiss still worried as she carefully shared her aura with her love. Weiss watched as the color slowly came back to Ruby's cheeks and her eyes fluttered open. Weiss looked down to find Ruby's leg had already been set with a thick piece of wood and some rope, her aura most likely working on healing already. Ruby rested her cheek in Weiss's hand as she continued to provide support as Ruby grit her teeth against the pain of frost bite which her body had most likely ignored due to her broken limb. A minute later, Ruby sighed as she simply relaxed into Weiss.

"Weiss? Are we…" Ruby spoke up in a hush. Her eyes held a sadness but remained strong, as if she'd already accepted her supposed fate.

"No, Ruby. At least, I don't think so." Weiss replied with a slight smile. "I don't think we'd have frostbite or feel anything if we were dead."

"Yoo hoo!" A voice called from where Christoff had disappeared. "I don't mean to be interruptin' ya, but I've got some hot coco for you."

A large man, larger than any Weiss had ever seen before stepped out from around the door. His biceps were easily the width of her shoulders, and he stood easily six and a half feet tall. Even so, he held a look about him that spoke to a kind nature. Weiss couldn't help but nod as he looked at the two sitting on the bench.

"Here you are." He handed both of them a large metal tankard of brown liquid that let off steam even in the warm house. Ruby carefully sipped hers and mumbled a thanks while Weiss chose to carefully blow across her own. The large man was joined by the blond who appeared to be carrying a tray with bread.

"I thought you might be hungry." He shrugged as he set it down on the bench next to Weiss before turning back to the massive man. "I'm going to go put the sled in the barn with Sven. It looked like a blizzard was starting so I'll get the shovels on my way back."

"Good thinking." The large man nodded as he looked down at the girls. "I'm Oaken by the way. Owner of Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna. You two should warm up in there, yes?"

"I'll pass." Weiss replied as she watched the smaller man leave.

"Weiss? Where's Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster?" Ruby asked suddenly as she jumped, feeling the empty space at her back which had held her precious scythe for every moment it wasn't in use or being cleaned for the past five months.

"Oaken, where are our weapons?" Weiss asked, suddenly feeling defenceless now that Ruby had pointed out their absence.

"Ooh, your sword is in the sled, dear." Oaken responded quickly. "But I don't allow weapons into my shop."

"I need mine." Ruby said urgently, making the large man frown.

"Don't know what you'll be needin' it for, dear-" Oaken responded carefully, obviously hesitant to trust the two girls before him.

"I've never let it out of my sight for more than a minute in the past five months." Ruby replied. "I need my weapon."

"Some would call that an unhealthy attachment." He replied with a raised eyebrow. "But if you really need to, Christoff has it in his sled."

"Where-"

A loud set of howls echoed far too close for comfort, causing both Ruby and Weiss to jump to attention. The blankets hit the floor as they moved to follow where Christoff had gone.

"Best not to go out now dears, the wolves sound close." Oaken said as he followed the girls to the door.

A shout echoed and a group of what sounded like twenty wolves snarled, but the noise kept escalating. Weiss and Ruby went rigid at the noise that was so familiar. Wherever they were, the dark creatures of grimm were obviously attacking. And by the sounds of it, defences were minimal.

"Which direction is the barn?" Ruby asked quickly as she untied the now useless splint from her leg. She donned her hood and stepped out of the door as the large man jumped and grabbed a hatchet that had been hanging on the wall.

"It's that way…" He trailed off as he took in an army of giant black wolves that stood on their hind legs. Their claws were black as night and elongated into deadly points.

Weiss counted at least forty creatures all focused on the barn and the torch that the man named Christoff was waving. In his free hand he brandished a basic hunting knife.

"Weiss, support. Oaken, get back inside. You won't do anything with that toy." Ruby said quickly. "Make me a path and I'll get your rapier."

"Alright." Weiss focused on her semblance even as she felt the strain on her aura as she pulled up a number of glyphs forming a straight lane to where the blond man stood. All the beowolves were blocked from attacking except the one directly in front of the man which had gotten one of it's arms stuck part way through her glyph.

Christoff reacted quickly, sending his knife through the creature's skull. The wolf burst into smoke as it fell back, causing him to step back in surprise as he watched the white haired girl's eyes glow as her hands kept the energy walls up.

Ruby hesitated and whispered one last order to her partner before she departed. "Don't summon anything."

Weiss barely nodded as the girl with the cloak seemed to disappear from the steps beside her and reappear at his side.

"I need my weapon." She said impatiently as another rune like a snowflake appeared at her back and the others that had created the path disappeared.

"Right this way…" He breathed in amazement. He thought Elsa's powers had been strange, but these two seemed even stranger. And if they would brave going out with this many wolves around, he believed they could also be very dangerous. He considered refusing to get the weapons, but he knew if these giant wolves were anything like the normal ice wolves that roved over the mountains, then he'd have difficulty dealing with them when they attacked as a pack. Especially a pack as large as this one. He opened the barn and closed the door once they were both inside, barring it with the thick wood bar that was specifically in place for keeping wolves out. He didn't think it would keep these creatures at bay for long though.

He saw Sven hiding in a dark corner and motioned with the hand that was out of sight to stay where he was. Christoff was greeted with silence, meaning his friend had understood the message as he made his way to the sleigh.

"So I'm guessing this sword is yours?" He asked as he carefully picked it out of the many items he had stored. He kept a strong hold on it as the girl approached him.

"No, mine's the scythe." The hooded girl replied. But nevertheless, she took the weapon from him and took a piece out before nodding and sliding it back in. "This is my partner's."

"Right… this thing?" Christoff asked as he lifted the metal block that looked nothing like a scythe.

"There's my baby!" Ruby smiled as she grabbed it out of his arms with one hand and pulled back a lever he hadn't noticed. A small piece of metal fell out before she pushed it back making a click noise.

Christoff bent down and picked up the piece that looked gold, but was a little off, like a combination of gold and some other metal.

"I'm Ruby by the way." Ruby remembered as she placed Weiss's weapon at her hip. "And I'm going to ask that you stay here."

"What are you going to do?" He asked with concern heavy in his voice.

Ruby hefted the weapon to her shoulder and smirked. "I'm going hunting."

* * *

Christoff rushed to the door as the caped girl disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. He looked out to find the wolves in a state of disarray as they focused on the white haired girl standing on the steps of the Trading Post who was sending attacking wolves flying with snowflake-shaped runes. While he'd seen Queen Elsa's magic before, these two girls seemed to have a different sort of magic to them. It was somewhat terrifying to watch the girl with the red cape seemingly disappear from one spot only to show up in another with her body leaping gracefully over the razor claws of a wolf. And the strange runic plates the white-haired girl kept summoning seemed to only be enraging the beasts even more.

Oaken was back inside his shop, watching restlessly from the doorway as he allowed the two girls, who seemed to wield magic like it was second nature to them, handle the abnormal wolves. The one with the cape returned and handed the one summoning snowflake runes the silver sword with the thinnest blade he'd ever seen before disappearing in a flurry of rose petals that fell to the ground. The white haired girl shook her head in defeat as the beasts all turned away from her as she backed up to the building while keeping a rune protecting herself.

A loud echo like the initial bang from the thunder of a nearby stroke of lightning echoed from the middle of the field as the red haired girl flew up into the air. The odd metal block in her hands spat fire as she pulled at the metal latch. The weapon thundered again and again, and the dark wolves fell one by one as their heads exploded and bodies were cut in half. Their bodies burst into smoke which was caught on the wind as it passed, leaving black streaks across the field of snow.

The girl rolled out of the way of one wolf's swipe as she spun her block of metal which transformed into a very deadly version of what Oaken and Christoff both recognized as a farming tool. The girl swung it down and kicked the wolf that had tried to slash her with its claws, sending it flying into another before she landed back next to the handle which she pulled out of the ground as if it were as light as a feather.

Christoff didn't bother to hide his shock in the form of his slacked jaw, instead mesmerized by the girl who killed wolf after wolf with seemingly little effort. They attacked only to be fell by what he assumed was an incredibly sharp blade, and the girl didn't even seem to be putting on a sweat.

Ruby smiled at the mild workout as she took out the countless wolves that seemed to be coming from the shadows of the nearby forest. It didn't take long though, to thin the numbers to a reasonable amount and then gave Weiss the signal to join in to finish them off. She watched as Weiss jumped out into the fight, in a high arc. She landed perfectly on the shoulders of one Beowolf, sinking her rapier through it's skull and rolling off it as it fell to the ground. She came up and gutted another wolf without barely a glance as she blocked the strike of another and cut the offending arm off with a slight smile.

Weiss had enjoyed the initial show Ruby had given her but had been thankful to join in. She didn't know how many wolves there would be, but she hoped they had finished coming out of the forest as Ruby would undoubtedly need to reload her dust cartridges before long. Her weapon was much easier in that regard, since she could just pour the raw dust into the empty chamber. She cut down her last opponent to find Ruby leaning on her scythe as if she'd been there for a while.

"Showoff." Weiss couldn't help but smirk as Ruby's grin fell and she opened her mouth to explain. "Good job, Ruby. Let's see if we can contact the others."

"Alright, you do that, I'm going to make sure these two are okay." Ruby replied with a nod to the rather stunned looking Oaken before she approached the barn where Christoff seemed to be frozen with his mouth hanging open. The man seemed too shocked to speak, so she just pulled his arm and he followed her back across the field of smoking wolves to the trading post.

"You two are really something, ya?" Oaken asked as he pulled Christoff in and sat him on the bench.

"Just doing what we always do." Ruby shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"You two are like sorceresses." Christoff's awed voice spoke up. "With the Queen, you'd think I'd be used to stuff like this by now."

"Please!" Ruby snorted in laughter, drawing the two men's eyes. She realized it would help to provide a little context. "Sorceresses sounds like we're in some sort of fairy tale. We're huntresses, thank you very much."

"Well, you're not like any huntresses I've ever met." Christoff conceded. "And those wolves… what were they?"

"You mean the beowolves?" Ruby asked in confusion. She didn't think anyone didn't know about one of the most common types of grimm. "They're grimm."

"Beowolves? You mean like Beowulf from that famous poem translation that came from England a few years ago?" Christoff asked in confusion, remembering stories from the visiting ships that had stopped for supplies before heading on to some distant war.

"Uh… no?" Ruby asked in confusion. "They're a weaker species of grimm-"

"Those were weak?" Christoff asked in shock.

"Now, now, let's all take a break, ya?" Oaken spoke as he patted the other man on the back. "What is this grimm you speak of?"

"Well…" Ruby honestly didn't think anyone was ignorant enough to know nothing about grimm, seeing as it was one of the largest plagues on Remnant. So she thought back to the lessons she'd had in signal when she was first starting her training to become a huntress. "Grimm are creatures of darkness. Not much is known about them, other than they are attracted to negative feelings. Fear, hate, anger, all that kind of stuff. When those emotions are concentrated in an area, it tends to attract them, and the ones you saw outside were weaker than most of the creatures that exist. Actually, there's only really a couple you could argue are weaker."

The door opened and Weiss walked in again, interrupting the explanation. "There's no signal from any of them, and I don't know where we are. With the CCT network down, I can't do anything else. I couldn't find any of the landmarks around here on our maps either. Last I know, we were nowhere near a forest or a mountain."

"I have a map here." Oaken waved her over, leading her to the trading post counter. Ruby remained with a still shocked Christoff, wondering exactly what was going on.

"So… um… where did these things come from?" Christoff asked, worried about what would happen if he hadn't been at the trading post when the wolves had attacked. And what would have happened if the girls hadn't been there to defend it.

"They've always been here." Ruby replied with a cock of her head as a possibility occurred to her. She shook it off as being preposterous, but everything seemed to add up to the idea that they weren't on Remnant anymore. At least, not the remnant she knew.

"I've been all over these mountains for the last twenty years of my life, and not once have I seen something like that." Christoff pulled his hat firmly over his ears as he stood up straighter and started to walk to the door.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked, confident that if the man ran into any grimm, he was almost certain to die.

"I need to see my family. They'll know more about this." He replied.

"Ruby? I need you to see this." Weiss called uneasily from next to Oaken as the two pored over a large piece of paper which Ruby assumed was a map.

"Hold on." Ruby told Christoff before approaching her partner. She looked down to a crudely drawn map of the area. But what caught her attention was the equally crude map of the continents that occupied a corner of the large map. "That's not Remnant."

"No, it isn't." Weiss agreed. "What do you think this means?"

"I don't know Weiss, but Christoff said his family might know more about where the grimm came from, because they apparently haven't been here for a long time. Maybe they can help us too?" Ruby asked, talking loud enough so Christoff could hear where he waited by the door.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Christoff replied hesitantly as he sized the two girls up. After a moment of silent deliberation, he sighed. "But you did save us, so I owe you. Come on."


	10. Chapter 10

Since waking, there had been silence.

Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, just that it felt… awkward. Elsa had tried to make conversation with her sister and she'd tried to talk too, but no matter what the topic, their words kept falling flat after a few exchanged sentences. Even questions about breakfast had been answered with a hum of acknowledgement rather than an actual word.

"Els… we need to talk about it." Anna spoke up as she finished packing the last of the stuff they brought into the carriage. Her sister finished summoning the ice horse at the front of the carriage and nodded at her work with satisfaction as she stepped away to meet her sister.

"I know we do, just… I'm afraid of everyone's reactions when they find out." Elsa confessed as she let Anna take her hands. She let out a sigh to help relax as she thought of their plan going forward. "I don't think it would be wise to announce our relationship… but I fear the implications of not doing so. The ball you suggested has no doubt already been planned, and I can imagine that more than one kingdom will be sending suitors for both of us. After the events at my coronation, I feel it unwise to incite anger toward us and our kingdom by entertaining the possibility that we will marry any of them, but at the same time I feel that to announce our courtship will only provoke those with traditional values or religious world views."

"Elsa, I think they'd all be better sports if they realized you wanted to be honest with them. That's what I'd like if I was them." Anna replied with a comforting squeeze to her sister's hands. "I say that we instruct the reception parties to inform them as they arrive that we have an announcement to make. Then on the first night, after everyone's had a couple of drinks, we announce that we're engaged. Sure some might get angry, but that's where you use that magical voice of yours to shift the topic on to something else."

"Right…" Elsa nodded slowly as she thought over Anna's suggestion. "I think I'll need to have a survey of the city first. If there seems to be a demand for same sex marriage, then we can blend in with the announcement of new legislation that will undoubtedly be noticed on the world stage. But this sort of thing is very tricky to handle due to the southern church's stance on the subject. It would mean interfering in it's affairs for the first time in over two centuries."

"Whatever you plan to do, I'll stand by you." Anna spoke, proudly puffing out her chest. "If they have a problem with it, they can just leave."

"It's not that simple, Anna. But thank you." Elsa laughed at her sister's oversimplifying of the subject. "For now, we can just play 'two sister's reunited after a long separation' to mask our relationship. That means no kisses on the lips, or inappropriate touching, but most other PDA's are most likely alright and to be expected. Such as hugging or… hand holding, or… maybe, kisses on the cheek?"

"Sounds good to me." Anna smirked as she pulled her sister closer. "After all, that rule only works when there are other people around."

Elsa felt her face blush as Anna pulled her into a kiss. She savoured the taste of her sister's lips for a moment before pulling away, willing herself to gain some self control. Her sister looked so happy with the new form of their relationship and Elsa herself couldn't fully repress the smile that stretched her lips, but she knew that they'd need to be careful. The world was far from ready for the progressive thinking that she had been raised with, or rather found by growing up alone, but Arendelle was one of the most progressive and peaceful countries in that world. Well, that was a bit of a lie. Arendellians tended to stick to the old adages that more or less stated that as long as it doesn't directly hurt someone, it's okay. She hoped that the few churches that followed foreign doctrines wouldn't create a problem as she knew the local religions wouldn't pose a problem since all they were concerned with was the honour of family and battle. Hell, some of the stories even made reference to blatant incest, though she supposed the gods could do whatever they wanted.

"Alright, let's go. We have a lot of work to do, so let's get going." Elsa pulled Anna up into the carriage behind her and set the ice horse in motion with a wave of her wrist.

After a few moments, Anna curled up on the seat next to her and seemed to fall asleep on her sister's lap while Elsa combed her fingers through her hair. She knew that the horse would carry them all the way back to the castle without her attention, so she found herself zoning out as she soaked in the moments before she'd have to hide her new relationship with Anna behind the mask the public would be expecting. Admittedly, that didn't change much at the moment, but she worried if that mask would in turn hinder the development of their relationship in the coming weeks.

As she pondered, the silence of the forest was punctuated only by the quiet crunch of the waggon's wheels and the ice horse's hooves as it was pulled farther down the path that wound back and forth down the mountain. At first, the silence was nice and comforting, but as snow and ice made way to the highest trees on the mountainside, the silence grew louder and louder.

Elsa found herself on edge as she looked out the carriage window into the green darkness that fell from the canopy above. It was as if she could sense something, but it was just out of sight. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled in a way that made her uneasy, and she started to gently shake her sister awake, hoping she'd be able to help quell the rising fear she felt.

"Are we there already?" Anna groaned as she sat up and looked around.

"No, but I feel like something is wrong." Elsa replied as she continued to carefully watch the passing trees.

"Hmm…" Anna hummed as she looked out the window too. "I don't see anything."

"It's too quiet." Elsa replied, hoping that Anna would understand her reasoning for being afraid.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Anna announced happily, pulling her sister into her lap.

"A-Anna! What are you-" Elsa started, but fell silent as she felt her little sister's lips ghost over her neck. The sensation was admittedly delightful but the situation battled for dominance in her mind.

"I'm distracting you, silly." Anna replied with a smirk that Elsa felt on her collar as a shiver ran down her spine when Anna's tongue licked the skin lightly.

"That… oh…" Elsa couldn't focus anymore. She couldn't turn her head with Anna so close to her, and the way her sister was suckling on her skin was enough to set her body on fire and her mind off of the outside world. It was pure bliss.

A loud roar made both royals jump a second before Elsa felt a shock to her system the likes of which she'd never felt before. Outside the front window of the carriage, A large bear with white markings on it's head and fur the colour of a starless night landed it's paw on the ground where their horse had once stood. It roared and jumped at the waggon, ripping the driver's perch from the front of the structure as if the hardwood was nothing but flimsy paper.

Anna shouted something that Elsa didn't register as she was pulled from the carriage's open door by her sister. Elsa followed Anna who was still holding her hand as they ran off the path and into the forest. Behind them, she could hear the bear grunting as it gave chase.

"Elsa! Kill it!" Anna shouted as she pulled her sister around a tree. The growls from the beast behind them kept increasing in volume as it gained.

Elsa didn't know what to do so she created a wall of ice with her free hand which the bear burst through after a moment. Elsa panicked and created a large spike of ice that burst from her hand and impaled the creature before sending it into a tree where it remained pinned. After a moment, it started smoking as if it were on fire.

"W-what was that?" Elsa asked breathlessly as her sister slowly approached the creature. She poked it's head, causing the smoking white piece that felt like bone to fall from the creature. A puff of black smoke exited the hole left by the bone and the creature disappeared soon after. Even the piece of bone slowly dissolved into nothingness before the eyes of the royals.

"I don't know but we need to get down the mountain." Anna said as she looked at the surrounding forest. "We should head back to the path."

"Anna, what if there are more of those things?" Elsa asked in worry.

"You took care of that one fine." Anna replied with a shrug. "Just do that again."

"I don't even know how I did that!" Elsa said in an exasperated cry. "I was terrified and it just… happened! It's not the same as if I were concentrating the way I was when I created the horse."

"Well…" Anna stopped and leaned against the tree she was passing as she looked back at her sister who stopped next to her. "Would you be able to make a sword with your ice?"

"Why would I do that? Neither of us are trained." Elsa dismissed the idea as she stepped over the root that Anna was partially standing on.

"Actually… I did train with the guards pretty regularly before your coronation." Anna whispered as Elsa passed, causing the elder sister to freeze. The questioning look in Elsa's eyes prodded her to continue her explanation, so she took a moment to find the right place to start. "I started training when I was twelve because Mom and Dad were worried that I'd start getting into even more trouble as I got older. Originally I was supposed to dance, but I saw the guards training and wanted to try. I kept joining them once a week after my dance classes, and then eventually it was just training. I figured it might be handy if I ever needed to protect you."

Elsa froze, looking back over her shoulder at her sister. She was still shaken from the encounter with the strange bear, but the fire burning in her sister's eyes was enough to ground her. She nodded and started focusing like she had when she'd created her castle of ice, except this time she forced that power to her hand where she created a thin cylinder of ice. From it, she created a cross guard that covered the top of her hand as the shaft extended past it.

"I don't remember exactly what a sword looks like, so tell me when it's long enough." Elsa spoke through her clenched jaw as she fought to keep her power flowing into the ice she held rather than exploding outward the way it wanted to. The cylinder kept growing inch by inch as a bright blue glow started to shine out from the core. Elsa focused all her power into the growing weapon until she felt Anna's hand take hold of her shoulder. She stopped her powers on instinct, afraid of hurting her sister again as she turned to look at Anna.

"It's length is good now." She replied with a supportive smile as she carefully wrapped her arms around her elder sister. "Keep going."

"Okay." Elsa returned her focus to the long stick of ice that was glowing a bright blue. She told the ice to form into a double edged blade, and the cylindrical core flattened and came to a point. Then Elsa let her powers flow freely through her arms, feeling it flow from her into her sister before it returned even colder as if Anna had amplified it's strength. She focused this new power along the edge of the blade, causing it to harden and crystallize like diamond. Then Elsa poured the last of her power into the cross guard and hilt, making it at least twice as hard as the blade. She felt her magic recede as she finished, and took in the final product. The sword was almost completely clear and seemed as thin as her hand, yet she knew it was strong enough and most likely had the power to shatter forged steel on contact. Even though she was still a novice with her powers, she could feel the power of a hundred winters howling beneath the surface, ready to provide one of the most destructive forces on Earth to its master, should it be called forth. The blade itself seemed to be engraved with some symbol that repeated around the very edge. On closer inspection, it was the crocus, the national flower of Arendelle with the signature crown at its center that identified it as a royal seal. She heard Anna gasp from behind her as she too took in the creation.

"This is amazing Elsa!" Anna gasped in delight. Elsa carefully turned the blade over in her hand, feeling the weight of the ice in her arm. She could imagine that she wouldn't be able to wield the weapon for very long, but if Anna was to be believed, then it shouldn't be too much trouble for her.

"Here…" Elsa waved her hand over the blade and a sheath of ice materialized around the blade and sealed to the cross guard. "All you need to do is order the blade, and it will let itself be drawn."

"Ooh, cool!" Anna took the offered item from her sister and as a test, tried to shake the blade loose. It didn't move from it's prison of ice, and Anna smiled as she slipped it into her travel belt. When she rested her hand on it, she could feel the power inside it and it slid freely from the sheath into the air. She could feel the air around her arm freeze as she held it. She could feel the temperature continue to plummet to unnaturally cold temperatures until she replaced it in it's sheath. The air seemed to crack as the cold returned to the normal chill that was the result of their altitude on the mountain. "It's amazing! Thank you so much!"

"Thank you, Anna. You helped… but be careful, you should be able to tell it not to release any of it's energy if you don't want it to. I'd be fine but anyone or anything else within range could be killed easily by the winter's power. And I'm not quite done yet." Elsa turned and took both her sisters hands.

Anna looked on at her sister in confusion, seeing her eyes glow blue with the power of the winter fighting to be released. Then she felt a stab of ice on her arm. She looked down and watched as a small rectangle materialized against her forearm and bands of ice wrapped around to bind the small piece to her arm. Then the bindings cracked and separated slightly, allowing her arm to relax before the bindings sealed themselves back into place with new ice. She watched as the rectangle on the outside of her arm grew into what appeared to be some sort of spear as it stretched backward and forward with sharp, glowing points. Then the points expanded vertically, creating what she could only imagine was a shield. This ice was see through for a moment before it frosted over, and she could tell that Elsa was making it as hard as she could. The weight was still light but she could tell that the armour was meant to protect her from anything that could possibly harm her. Regardless of the power that might have been behind it.

The top and bottom of the shield curved as it finished growing, the edge of the very top and bottom turning sharp as if they were meant as additional weapons. Anna looked at the piece in awe as she felt the power resonating across her body from the shield to the sword and back again as if the two items were communicating and sharing their power. She could feel the way they bent to her will as if silently waiting for orders.

Elsa sighed and collapsed into her sister's arms, exhausted from the extensive use of her magic when she wasn't used to it. She watched as the glow in the sword and shield disappeared as the winter trapped within fell into hibernation. She'd instructed it to wait until it was called forth to avoid harming anything that didn't pose a threat, but she knew it would remain vigilant to protect her sister against anything she wouldn't see.

"Elsa, are you okay?" Anna set her sister down on the root of a tree and knelt next to her. She kept a hold on her hands in concern as she waited for a reply.

"I… just need a moment." Elsa panted as she felt a warmth spread inside her. She'd only felt a sensation similar to that once before when she'd learned of her parent's deaths. Her room had been filled with so much of her ice and snow that she'd literally drained herself of the winter. She'd been happy for a moment to be free of the curse, but that had turned to horror as her power had come back twice as strong. "I think I used too much of my power."

"Take your time." Anna replied, pulling her into her arms, the shield she'd created resting on her back as if Anna was already protecting her.

"Anna, I want you to know that I made these because you asked me to. Not because I want you to protect me." Elsa said as her breathing evened out. She could feel the last of her power swirling as if desperate to be released, but held on to it since she knew it might be needed in the near future if the prophecy of 'great evil' was coming true on the mountain. "I'm not sure if I can defend us like I did again, but I'll try. That sword is a last resort, understand?"

"Elsa, you can be such a worry-body!" Anna giggled into her ear. "I'll let you protect us, but if I feel like I have to, then I'll step in. I'd step in without any weapon at all if you were in danger, but I think everything will work out much better with these."

"That means a lot to me Anna." Elsa replied, remembering the fateful day her sister had done just that, stopping Hans from killing her and letting herself be frozen solid in the process. She pushed that dark memory away as she felt the power of winter slowly start to build back up within her, giving her back the strength she needed. "Let's go back to the trolls. Let's find out if this bear was related to that omen they spoke of."

"Sounds like a plan, milady!" Anna stepped back and offered her hand to her sister. Elsa smirked as she took the offered hand and pulled herself up, swiftly placing her lips on her sister's.

"Since we won't be able to for a while." Elsa whispered as she broke away and started leading her sister back to the path. They'd be on foot from now on, since she didn't think it wise to create another horse to pull the broken carriage. Anna wrapped her free arm around her sister's waist as they walked, allowing Elsa to rest as she was guided around the forest roots and trees. She let Anna lead, the ice shield giving her the appearance of a knight as it reflected the light that filtered through the canopy. Elsa noted that the forest was still silent and remained on her guard, reaching out through the winter air to find anything that wasn't supposed to be there. She found nothing in the immediate area, but remained cautious. After all, she hadn't sensed the bear either.


	11. Chapter 11

"Ruby… I think we should go…" Weiss spoke hesitantly as she watched the man who'd taken them into what he'd called _The Valley of Living Rock_ , traipse around the countless boulders with his reindeer. He was calling the objects by name and had even hugged two as he inquired about someone else who they assumed was an authority figure.

"Uh… yeah…" Ruby agreed as she stepped back, taking Weiss's hand, and in the process placing her other on her weapon. "Listen, Christoff. We're going to go… um…"

Ruby thought for a moment as she kept backing up with her partner, keeping her aura active just in case. When she felt nothing around them, she realized she hadn't finished her sentence.

"We'll just leave." Weiss finished the statement for her as the odd man stood up straight with one hand out asking them to wait. His mouth opened to say something but the voice that spoke didn't come from his mouth.

"Hey there cuties!" A female voice spoke excitedly from behind them, causing Ruby and Weiss to spin. Ruby had pulled out her weapon and Weiss's hand had landed on the hilt of her weapon as they took in the boulder like appearance of what they could only guess was some sort of golem.

"Um…" Ruby hesitated, wondering whether or not to pull the trigger her finger was gently squeezing.

"Don't hurt her!" Christoff shouted from behind them, but he didn't make a move to get closer.

For a moment, not one of the three people, golem or reindeer moved. Then the golem cocked her head to the side slowly as she evaluated the two girls in front of her.

"You're not from these parts, are you?" She asked rhetorically. "I'm Bulda. I'm a rock troll, and part of Christoff's family. It's nice to meet more of his friends."

Ruby relaxed, replacing her weapon on her back and Weiss dropped her hand from her weapon as she continued to evaluate the creature. It definitely matched the descriptions Christoff had given en route, but more literally than she'd imagined was possible.

"I'm Ruby, and this is Weiss. We're… looking for someone who can give us information." Ruby replied, gesturing to Weiss with a cock of her own head.

"It's alright guys, they got the two of us out of a tight spot. Right Sven?" Christoff asked aloud as the reindeer nodded emphatically.

Weiss kept her eyes trained on the creature, not trusting it enough to turn her back as Ruby turned to take in the rest of the rocks around Christoff.

"Uh… Weiss?" Ruby breathed as Weiss felt something in the ground, like a vibration. "You might want to see this."

Weiss turned and watched in awe as the dozens of rocks shook as they sprouted arms and legs, and then unfurled into more creatures like the one they'd just spoken to. There were all sorts from tall and relatively slim to short and fat, and they were all wearing some variation of crystal. Their faces all watched silently as the crowd slowly parted for a troll that seemed to have a cloak made from living grasses over its shoulders.

"I sensed you coming into this valley." It stated in a gravelly voice, forgoing its own introduction. "What is it that you seek."

"For starters, where are we?" Weiss spoke up, resting her hand on the hilt of her weapon again. She was uneasy with so many unknowns surrounding her.

"You are where you already know you are." He replied with a grin, knowing exactly the question that was asked.

"And can I just ask… where is that?" Ruby spoke politely, trying to keep Weiss from angering the countless rock monsters by being too short.

"In the mountains of Arendelle, of course." He replied shortly. "And where did you come from?"

"Atlas." Ruby replied again, squeezing Weiss's hand to ask her to remain silent. "I don't know how we got here though."

"Bulda, is the girl telling a truth?" The elder troll asked and Ruby watched as the troll carefully approached the girls. The troll took one of Ruby's hands in her own and closed her eyes.

"Yes. At least, their own truth." She spoke. "The darkness that masks them is only a by product of their previous environment."

"I see…" The troll grumbled as he ambled closer. "You girls fight the demons that now threaten our world, yes?"

"Um… I think?" Ruby asked in return, confused at the dialogue that had been exchanged.

"Even now the darkness threatens this mountain. Our magic seals will not hold for much longer, if they even remain intact. Should the last seal break, I fear that not only Arendelle, but the world will be lost to darkness." The troll spoke quickly and urgently. "What can you tell us about this plague?"

"They're creatures of grimm." Weiss broke her silence, catching on to what the troll was asking. "They are dangerous creatures that lack souls, and are the by product of pain and fear. They are common occurrences outside of major cites across Remnant…. Now… where are we?"

"You are not in your own world." The creature responded as it pulled a gem from it's neck and closed it's eyes as the crystal started to glow from within. "I see now, thanks to the shroud that covers you, that a rift has been torn between our worlds, and the curse that has plagued your world wishes to infect ours as well, but it cannot survive without the rift."

"Alright, so how do we get back to our own world? And how do we close off this… rift?" Ruby asked quickly, picking up that a critical mission needed their attention.

"That I cannot say. We will take a preventative measure and add additional seals around the mountain. Until the moon disappears from the sky, nothing shall leave this mountain." The elder troll turned to his charges. "You all know what to do."

The trolls dropped as one back into their balls of rock and then rolled away in different directions. The sight was a shocking one to the two huntresses who hadn't seen anything like that before.

"Do you think Elsa will be able to help?" Christoff asked the old troll after a moment of everyone remaining silent.

"The queen and her sister remain on the mountain." The troll replied. "They will be caught within the quarantine."

"What?!" Christoff almost shouted in astonishment. "But Elsa is the one who has the best chance at helping! She has the power to gather the human experts that might know something!"

"Christoff… what would you have me do?" The troll sighed, taking the man's hand and pulling him down to a kneel. "This darkness will destroy the country, if not the world if it is allowed to escape this mountain."

"Then let us get your queen." Ruby interjected as she drew her weapon and let it extend into it's scythe form. She pulled her hood up and rested her weapon across her shoulders as Weiss followed her, drawing her own weapon.

"It is too dangerous." The troll replied stubbornly. "The wards must be put in place."

"Can't you just give them a couple of hours?" Christoff asked pleadingly.

"I've already deferred this action too long, as the fates told of a boon that would be given to us in our time of need. These girls may be skilled at combating the so called creatures of grimm, but I will not trust the fate of our world to them." The troll replied harshly.

"Then don't give us time." Ruby replied, causing the troll to look on in astonishment. "If you can put up, what you call a ward, to keep the grimm on the mountain, then you can probably also take it down right?"

The troll nodded and Weiss picked up on the plan. The odds weren't very good, but provided the troll would be able to do it, Weiss felt confident that it wouldn't be the worst odds they'd ever faced.

"Take us to the edge of the ward. We'll go up the mountain and attempt to find your queen. Then we'll bring her back here and you can let down the ward for us to pass." Weiss finished Ruby's plan, earning a smirk from her partner.

"If you believe you can do this, then I will remain at the ward for two hours." The troll replied as it started hobbling quickly to the edge of the clearing. "Take this gem. It will glow brighter the closer you are to those that master the power it houses."

Ruby took the small diamond from the troll and noticed it had a very weak glow inside it.

"We'll be back." Ruby waved as she led Weiss past the troll and into the forest that would undoubtedly stretch up the mountain.

"We shall see." The troll replied as Christoff watched on with a troubled expression.

Ruby and Weiss continued walking for a few minutes before they heard the sound of someone following them. They turned to find Christoff with a rope around his shoulders, a small pick ax at his belt and a hatchet in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked in surprise. "We don't need a liability."

"I know this mountain like the back of my hand." Christoff replied. "And I know the route that Elsa and Anna would take if they were heading to or from the Northern peaks. It's the best bet at finding them."

"Then you need to follow our directions if more grimm come along. The beowolves from before were easy targets, but anything stronger might pose an issue. I'm running low on ammunition too." Ruby replied darkly. "They'll try to kill all of us. And no offence, but you seem to be an easy target yourself."

"No offence taken." Christoff replied with a shrug. "So let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

Ruby ran with Weiss following her. Christoff was still ahead of them as they out-manoeuvred a Taijitu that was chasing them. It smashed through a tree before it realized Weiss had waited for it and it's head was blasted off by a fireball as she stabbed her rapier into it's eye socket.

Ruby rushed back as the second head moved to strike the open back of her girlfriend, using her semblance to cut the second head off of the creature with her scythe's blade.

The creature started dissolving as they replaced their weapons and kept moving.

The crystal the old troll had given them seemed to be glowing slightly brighter the farther they went toward the top of the mountain, but Weiss estimated at least a dozen kilometres before they'd get to the top.

A bone chilling howl sounded in the distance, giving the huntresses pause as they listened intently to the forest. Christoff remained silent as he waited for the girls to resume following and Ruby felt a chill run down her spine as the air suddenly took on a frosty temperature that was ill suited for their current altitude.

Weiss exchanged a glance with Ruby who pulled out the crystal. It was now fairly bright and the returned nod was all she needed.

"This way." Weiss spoke for Christoff's benefit as she and Ruby led the man toward the growls and cries of the dark creatures that echoed strangely in the trees.

The journey was short and Weiss was greeted with a picture of a clearing that led up to a cliff. In the side of the cliff was what appeared to be a cave and the grimm were all focused on getting inside. Ruby could feel the crystal in her pocket getting colder, so she handed it to Christoff as he stepped up beside her.

"Find a place to hide." She told him quietly, lest the grimm take notice of their group prematurely. "We'll clear these guys out and then you can join us again. Just be careful about making any noise."

"Right." Christoff stepped back and away as he started climbing a nearby tree.

Weiss looked to Ruby who checked her weapon's clip with a frown. She swapped her magazine to the last one she had on her hip and then nodded.

"Need to resupply soon." Ruby replied to the unspoken question and Weiss felt the extra cartridge she had at her hip. It wouldn't be much but it would help in the case that they couldn't get more dust soon, meaning that their return trip might have to rely on her as the primary combatant.

"Let's go. Make the call." Weiss said as she cycled her cylinder.

Ruby swung her weapon around and sunk the blade into the forest floor. She pushed her weapon's bolt forward, locking her first round in place as she sighted down her scope at a line of a few beowolves and an ursa that were conveniently pushing their brethren forward. The round ripped through all four of the dark creatures, sending all of them to the ground even if it hadn't killed the Ursa.

"White Rose!" Ruby ordered as she chambered the next round and sighted the closest targets. Weiss's glyphs rose at the end of her barrel and she fired off six rounds in quick succession, freezing as many grimm in solid ice in the process. Weiss dropped her glyph as Ruby pulled her weapon out of the ground. All the grimm that had been focused elsewhere were now paying attention to the two huntresses, and Ruby grinned as she slowly walked forward away from her teammate. "Strawberry Smoothie!"

Weiss grinned at the mention of the new move she'd developed for her partner, and moved to get into place. Ruby had come up with the name, and Weiss hadn't felt up to arguing it that week. As a result, she hoped that they wouldn't discuss it in the presence of others. It felt so childish, but at the same time perfectly descriptive.

Weiss summoned glyphs around most of the nearby grimm, blocking them into a temporary cage as Ruby sliced her way to the center of the rest of the creatures. Weiss watched for any newcomers as Ruby started to spin with her blade. She picked up speed until the velocity pushed the scythe out straight as the springs relented their hold on the head of the weapon. There was suddenly a lot of smoke as countless beowolves and ursi met their end at her partner's blade, but more were still waiting.

"Here's more!" Weiss called to give Ruby a heads up as she tossed the grimm one at a time at her leader with more glyphs, who cut them down as they flew past, leaving a smoking pile of limbs and bodies around her.

Weiss continued until there were only two beowolves and an Ursa left. One of the beowolves took a round to it's head as Ruby switched her weapon back to it's compact form, and the other Beowolf retreated at a run, leaving the Ursa.

"I'm out." Ruby announced as she placed the weapon at her back. She pulled out a pair of dust infused daggers from her belt and spun them as she considered the Ursa that was slowly approaching them.

"I've got this." Weiss assured Ruby, stepping forward as the Ursa lunged. She pulled up a glyph, blocking it's attack and prepared to stab her weapon into it's chin in the next second when she heard a loud cracking noise like thick ice breaking.

She watched as the Ursa slumped and started evaporating as she let her glyph down. Behind the Ursa, just visible against it's smoke was the translucent blue of ice. More specifically, a spike of ice that grew from the ground where there had been nothing before. Weiss and Ruby moved to the side to get a better view and found themselves facing two women in very different attire.

Where Ruby and Weiss were wearing jackets over their normal insulated versions of their combat outfits, these two were wearing what could only be described as formal wear. The light blue and grass green dresses stood out against the white snow and dark trees behind them, but what caught Weiss's attention was the blue sword and shield that the one in the green dress held. The weapon looked to be emitting smoke, and both the items were glowing faintly in the shade of the canopy.

"Who are you?" The one in the blue dress spoke, her hand held out straight as if threatening to shoot lasers from her palm. The other girl had clenched the hilt of her sword as well and moved half a step closer to her companion.

"Someone you shouldn't be threatening." Weiss responded coldly, making a show of sheathing her weapon as she took a step forward. "But I'll let that go for now."

"Uh… Hi, I'm Ruby." Ruby said, stepping around Weiss as the woman in the green dress sheathed her own weapon, but the one with the blue dress didn't move to drop her hand. "We're looking for someone who is on this mountain."

"And who might that be?" Ms. Blue dress asked coldly. It was clear she didn't trust the two huntresses.

"Someone who pays attention!" Weiss shouted, noticing too late what she'd thought had been a trick to her eyes. "Ruby!"

"On it!" Ruby shouted in reply, her semblance already carrying her past the pair of girls as Weiss launched off a glyph directly at them.

Weiss pulled up a protective glyph just in time as something white shot from the hand of the girl with the blue dress. It hit her glyph and ricocheted off into the forest and she tackled the two girls to the ground before the one in the green dress had time to draw her sword.

Weiss felt rather than saw the black creature pass over them as she heard the thump of it's companion hitting the ground. She scrambled to her feet, drawing her blade as the two girls she'd tackled attempted to catch their breath from the impact.

The Griffon swooped back toward them and Weiss ran the creature through with her rapier, stopping it before it's claws could come within range of the girls. She tossed it's body with the help of a glyph before turning and offering her hand to the one in the blue dress as Ruby helped the one in the green dress up. She saw Christoff approach and wrap the green-dressed girl in a quick hug the second she'd released Ruby's hand and had to smile at the almost fatherly action as he started to check her for injuries. She looked back to the ground as she continued to offer her hand.

"We're huntresses." Weiss stated as the girl with long blond hair and glowing blue eyes looked up at her in grudging thanks. "And we're looking for a queen."

* * *

The blond hesitantly took the offered hand and Weiss pulled her to her feet. She dusted herself off from the powder that coated her backside as a means to buy time as she decided on how to answer. She saw that Anna was still too preoccupied with Christoff's concern to pay attention to the other two women. Had it not been for the huntresses, Elsa knew she would have been jealous of their interaction after the previous night's revelations, but with the two wild-cards in their midst…. Well, she wasn't going to put her back to either one of them. Especially after the display of prowess in dealing with the demonic creatures.

Elsa brought her focus back to the girls who had now joined up again. Ruby was whispering quietly and Weiss's head nodded as she pulled out some form of package and passed it on. Elsa didn't concern herself with it, but it did leave a question mark in her head as a few oddities stood out. The first and most obvious one was the difference in their weapons compared to those of the Arendelle Military and even the more varied but still equally normal weapons of the Militia. Next was the abilities both girls had shown while in combat. Ruby could move faster than should be possible, especially with a heavy weapon such as the scythe she used, and Weiss had a power that seemed to be of a more esoteric nature. And the last thing that struck her was the blatantly short skirts that accompanied their dresses. She'd encountered many studies of fashion in the library of Arendelle Castle, but not one made mention of short skirts. Elsa combined all these facts and decided it might be worthwhile to ask a few questions as they all rested.

"I never caught your name." Elsa said, approaching the white haired girl as the one named Ruby moved over to a tree and started fiddling with something at the side of her weapon.

"I never offered it." She replied, turning to face her as she spoke. "I never caught yours either."

"I never offered, either." Elsa replied, earning a slight grin from the other girl which was quickly hidden beneath her neutral mask.

"Fair enough. I'm Weiss. That thing over there is Ruby-" Weiss looked over just as Ruby looked up in mock hurt.

"Hey! I resent that!" Ruby huffed, sticking her tongue out before smiling and returning to her work.

"Case in point." Weiss smiled as she turned back to the other girl. "It seems you most likely know this… Christoff judging by his reaction to your friend. And that leads me to believe that you're Elsa."

"How would you…" Elsa trailed off as Weiss pulled a small blue gem from her pocket. It's glow was not just bright, but blinding as she held it equally between them. "Grand Pabbie."

"If that's the name of that old rock creature, then yes." Weiss turned back to see Ruby sliding rounds into her weapon's magazine. "Are you almost finished?"

"Yup, good to go. Just don't let me shoot you. They're all in random order." Ruby said as she slammed the magazine home and replaced the weapon back under her cloak.

"Christoff, Anna, let's get moving. We're most likely sitting on a migration path." Weiss ordered as Ruby started shuffling the two forward. Turning back to the queen, Weiss found her looking at her without much trust, so she decided to elaborate as they moved. "We're getting you back to that old troll before the grimm decide to run us out of ammunition. From there, my partner and I have a favour to ask."

"What makes you think I'll agree to this favour?" Elsa asked as she started following Weiss as she saw Ruby fall in line with Christoff and Anna right behind them.

"You're a queen, right?" Weiss asked, hiding her smirk as she realized how easy it was to pull strings when you knew nothing of the other's politics, and in this case, world. "I'd assume there are very few strangers who would fight through an army of unknown creatures to find you. I'd think that you'd like to know why."

Elsa remained silent as the argument sunk in. She was either happy to finally have someone who responded to her as her sister did, as if her powers meant almost nothing, or she was very angry that this person seemed not to respect her authority. At the moment though, she decided to accept that Weiss's argument was academically sound.


	13. Chapter 13

"Oh, thank goodness!" Grand Pabbie sighed as he finished a quiet chant, a shiver in the air the only indication of the enchantment that he'd cast. "I feared that we would be unable to see to your safe return, your majesty."

"I thank you for the concern." Elsa bowed politely, having been informed of the huntress's meeting with the troll earlier. "I must ask about your ward-"

"Yes, of course." The troll waved the party to follow as he slowly returned to the grove his family called home. "The ward is the most powerful we have ever performed, but without the power of the earthen heart, I cannot seal the darkness forever."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked, concerned as she joined her sister. The huntresses and Christoff kept back, simply observing the conversation and the information being shared.

"These creatures are not from this world, Anna. I cannot see from where or when their power comes, but it is no small trifle. The darkness is already draining the power of the ward at an alarming rate-"

"How long until it falls?" Ruby asked grimly. The tone was something Weiss still wasn't used to, but if they were to believe they weren't on Remnant anymore, then the possibility to stop grimm from manifesting was vital. And Weiss knew that of them all, Ruby knew that best.

"I fear no longer than until the new moon." The troll replied with an exhausted sigh. "We will try to keep it active as long as possible, but it will not be enough."

Silence fell on the group as they all delved into their own thoughts. Weiss was the first to come back to reality, noticing the worried frowns on everyone's faces.

"Alright then… Queen Elsa?" The call made the queen's head snap to attention as Ruby turned her head to listen to her partner. "My partner and I must resupply if we're to be of any use."

"Of course." Elsa nodded in understanding. Weiss could tell there was still hesitation in trust, but with their experience, the queen had nobody else to turn to if it turned into a fight with the grimm. "What is it you require?"

"Dust, and a weapons forge." Ruby replied quickly.

"Dust…?" Christoff asked, surprised at the strange request.

"You know… fire, water, lightning…" Ruby replied, as a memory of a very angry heiress jumped back to mind. She exchanged a glance with Weiss who likewise had remembered the event.

"We do not have what you seek in this world." Grand Pabbie replied for the Queen. "But it may be possible to channel the power contained in these crystals into a form you may find usable. Bulda, go with them, and take these."

The old troll said as the first troll Ruby and Weiss had spoken to joined them. "But these are your century gems!"

"I would rather sacrifice these to ensure others may be made than hold on to them in vain." Grand Pabbie spoke gravely. "Now go! All of you! Your kingdom faces a great peril Elsa, and only the four of you stand any chance of driving the darkness back to it's origin. Christoff, gather your brothers and sisters with haste, we must try to create a new seal before the darkness destroys the one I've set."

The man nodded, leaving off into the forest to find his reindeer. The old troll sat unsteadily on a log as he waited for the task to be complete.

"Good luck." The two words he spoke seemed more imperative than hopeful as the group headed quickly to the path that would lead back to Arendelle.

* * *

"Your majesty! Your highness! Are you alright? May I be of assistance?" The guard knelt low as Elsa led the group to the outskirts of the city. The guards in charge of the gates had all rushed out when they had seen the group approaching considering the state of their Queen's and Princess's dresses.

"Thank you, I need a transport to the castle as soon as possible." Elsa instructed as she continued walking, motioning for the guards to follow. "As well, notify Captain Grimaldi of the City Guard, and General Magnar of the Arendelle Military for an emergency meeting at the palace."

"As you command. Jorgen, find the Captain. Willow, the General." The guard ordered while pointing out to the specific soldiers who were dressed in lighter leather armour than the others. "Take horses!"

"Yes Lieutenant!" They both echoed with a clapped fist over their hearts before they broke rank and sprinted for the gate that was steadily approaching.

"Your majesty, if it is speed you wish I can offer the spare arms caravan but-"

"That will suffice. I must take up a matter of great importance with my advisers." Elsa spoke simply with a slight glance back to her sister, the troll, and the two huntresses following her. "Will it fit all five of us?"

"With a seat or two to spare." The lieutenant nodded as he passed the gate and signalled two of his men to man the gates as he led the queen to the obviously disused cart that sat next to four horses of which two were currently being mounted. "Please, take your seats and I'll get the horses ready."

"Thank you." Elsa bowed slightly as the lieutenant bowed deeper in response before heading off to fetch a pair of horses to pull the waggon.

Elsa nodded to the waggon and watched as the huntresses and Bulda all piled into the back before turning to Anna who waited beside her.

"So… whatcha thinking?" Anna asked after a moment of silence between them.

"So many things." Elsa sighed. "I want you next to me at this meeting."

"Oh! Sure, I'll come. I don't really know what I'm doing though…" Anna trailed off as her head sunk. Elsa felt a blush come to her cheeks as she reached out and gently caressed the cheek of her sister, coaxing her eyes back to her own.

"Anna, this is something that concerns all of us… especially us." Elsa said as she took her sister's hand and gave it a squeeze. "You understand what Grand Pabbie said yesterday, right?"

Anna closed her eyes and dropped her head again and nodded. "I know. But…"

When she didn't continue, Elsa sighed and wrapped her sister in a hug. "Tell me what you're thinking my sweet."

"W-well…" Anna stuttered and lifted her head to look around. The blush on her face at Elsa's endearment wasn't lost on the queen who's smile stretched. "It sounds stupid, but I want to protect you."

"Protect me?" Elsa asked in confusion. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You created these weapons for me, and I intend to use them to keep you safe." Anna spoke plainly but quietly as the guards led the second horse past them to the front of the wagon. "And I know that these… things… are dangerous, but…"

"Say no more Anna." Elsa sighed, rubbing her temple. "I am not fond of this idea but we'll discuss it at length tonight. Understand?"

"Okay." Anna nodded as she pulled Elsa into a hug. In her ear, Elsa could barely make out Anna's whisper. "I'll make sure to bring my pyjamas."

This time it was Elsa's turn to blush as Anna spun away with a slightly reduced energy compared to normal but the grin on her face told Elsa it was exactly what she'd been intending.

"Your majesty? The horses are ready." A guard that had manned the gate informed her as she watched Anna climb into the back of the waggon. "Lieutenant Figg has ordered me to be your driver if it pleases your majesty."

"Thank you very much." Elsa nodded as she walked to the rear of the waggon and used a wave of conjured ice to avoid climbing the ladder to the rear of the waggon before she gracefully took the last seat next to her sister, directly across from the huntress who'd called herself Weiss.

Weiss watched her carefully as the waggon started into motion, ignoring the surrounding buildings as they slid past, never once breaking eye contact as if attempting to read the monarch's thoughts. Elsa became unnerved and took Anna's hand for a moment before Weiss's expression changed to a smile for a split second and she turned her attention to the road ahead of the carriage.

Elsa's feeling of unease didn't dissipate until the waggon came to a halt and the huntresses disembarked, ignoring the fact that it should have been the Queen to exit the waggon first. Elsa noted as the two moved to the castle side of the vehicle that the two seemed to either downright ignore her status as royalty or simply had no knowledge of how to act around her. She had thought that everyone knew how to act around a king or queen, but she had to admit it was a good act if they were simply ignoring the standard niceties.

"Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" A crier announced as Elsa's feet touched the ground and her wave of ice that had carried her from the waggon dissipated. Elsa quickly exchanged a glance with Anna before heading over to the huntresses.

"Listen to me." She spoke quietly as the castle guards approached. "Say nothing, follow Anna to my personal study, and I will join you once I take care of this."

"Um… what?" Ruby asked, drawing a glare from Elsa who quickly turned to the approaching guard.

"Ah, Captain. Who is it that calls?" Elsa asked as she started walking away. The captain looked at Weiss and Ruby with curiosity for a moment before falling into step next to the queen and bowing as he caught up.

"Prince Brandon of the Southern Isles has requested an audience with your majesty at the earliest opportunity." He said, causing Elsa to pause in the castle doorway.

"The Southern Isles?" Elsa asked hesitantly, hoping she'd heard wrong.

"He wishes to apologize for his brother's transgression and-"

"Enough. Take him to the guest wing and keep him under constant surveilance. I want you on him tighter than a corset. And if he steps one toe out of line, arrest him. Otherwise, I will meet with him during court tomorrow." Elsa dismissed the man with a wave as another man in a light leather armour sprinted up from the stables.

"Your majesty!" He gasped as he bowed to one knee. "I bring news from the eastern pass!"

"Is it urgent?" Elsa asked as she led the man into a room just off the main foyer as she watched Anna lead their guests up the stairs to her study.

"Yes, my Queen." He spoke quickly. "There has been news of the Karelian Missionaries moving on the provinces north of Arendelle. Captain Agnar fears that they may target Arendelle next."

"And the Northern Provinces? How have they responded?" Elsa asked as she took a seat in the chair that rested next to a table. She gestured at the couch, offering a seat to the scout.

"As you'd expect, your grace, they've sent their militias to counter the main force of crusaders moving from their northern borders, but we fear that the Church has already been established in the capitals." The scout reported grimly. "There has been reports of fighting in the streets in both the capitals as of two days ago."

"And the pace?" Elsa asked as she recalled the previous provinces had only lasted eight days before falling silently under the unofficial rule of the Church of Karelia.

"The time schedule seems to be unchanged from their capture of Allenfjord and Karejundr, so approximately eight days." The scout estimated carefully. "We expect them to continue moving to the west, but we fear they may send a detachment to Arendelle as we are the only small kingdom left in this region with value to the church due to our current culture and exports."

"I see. Thank you for this information. Rest in the castle tonight and I will have a response for the Captain by morning. I have yet to meet with General Magnar tonight. I will see if he can spare troops to aid on the border, but you will not be able to stop their spies." Elsa said while resting her hand on the man's shoulder as he bowed. "Sleep well."

"You as well, your majesty." He responded as he stood and bowed while Elsa exited the room.

Once the door closed she sighed and turned to a nearby servant.

"Please have two light meals sent up to my chambers in one hour's time." She asked, receiving a nod and a bow in response as she continued on her way, meeting her father's old adviser Kai at the bottom of the steps.

"Queen Elsa, are you alright?" He asked as she approached. "The princess's dress was in tatters!"

"That remains to be seen, Kai. There is a great many things going wrong at the moment, and others poised to go wrong in due time." Elsa sighed. "Has General Magnar and Captain Grimaldi arrived yet?"

"Just moments ago." He replied as he took the lead climbing the stairs. "They are waiting with Arendelle's Ice Master and her royal highness in your study. I believe your guests are there as well."

"Thank you Kai. I'll need you as well for this." Elsa sighed as she followed Kai around a corner and into her study. She walked straight to the couch and sat, ignoring the bows from the two men in officer uniforms.

Kai shut the door as Elsa motioned for everyone to take a seat if they so chose. Anna was at her side in a moment, sitting far too close for propriety but Elsa forgave her when she noticed the light blush on her sister's face. She noticed that Ruby and Weiss were both able to sit next to Anna as Christoff leaned up against the wall and General Magnar and Kai took the two remaining seats while Captain Grimaldi stood at ease in front of the fire.

"Alright, so there has been another development that I wish to address before moving forward into the main purpose for this meeting." Elsa announced turning to General Magnar. "The Karelians are targeting the provinces on Arendelle's northern border. I want you to send a small detachment to the eastern pass in the morning to reinforce the border. You must also start checking for propaganda that may be imported in waggons and packs."

"Yes, your majesty. I will send the fourth battalion-"

"No, send only a single battle group." Elsa instructed firmly. "Ensure it is made up of mostly veteran soldiers."

"My Queen?" He asked in confusion.

"We will need the majority of Arendelle's army here. Higher numbers, not necessarily more experienced." Elsa instructed to a nod of compliance. "Captain Grimaldi, advise your troops to be on the lookout for any insurrectionists. Do not directly combat them, but keep track of them. If you can arrest them, do so and have all releases routed through Kai. Ensure you add notes on who you suspect."

"Yes, your majesty." Grimaldi bowed slightly in response.

"Okay with that settled, onto the next order of business. Anna, would you like to take this one?" Elsa asked, getting her sister's attention as she jumped into alertness. Elsa watched both the military men glance to the wall where she noticed Anna had left her ice weapon and shield before turning back to the princess.

"A-alright, Els… well, we were returning from the north mountain after taking a break at the Ice Palace and we were attacked by a bear." Anna said drawing skeptical looks from the two men. She huffed so she continued. "It's fur was black as night and it stood twice as tall as our carriage. It destroyed the ice horse Elsa had made and ripped the front of the carriage off before we escaped and ran into the trees. When it gave chase, Elsa killed it with her ice and it dissolved into smoke."

"Your highness, what you describe sounds incredible, but is simply impossible." General Magnar said skeptically. "Are you sure you are well?"

"She is completely sane, I assure you." Elsa replied for Anna. "Later we were ambushed again by a group of wolves larger than men that stood on their hind legs, and bears like the first one, as well as birds that were black as a starless night and intent on killing us. Without the two huntresses sitting beside us, I do not believe I'd be able to bring this information to you."

"But your majesty, your highness, what you describe has never been heard of in the nine worlds!" Grimaldi objected. "The creatures you describe are frightening, yes. But how are we supposed to know if they even exist? Or even how to combat them?"

"How about you go get gutted by one? That sound like a good plan?" Ruby asked quietly from her corner seat, drawing all the eyes in the room except her partner's.

"What's your name, girl? And what do you know of these supposed beasts?" Magnar asked, his voice proving just how doubting he was of Ruby's knowledge of the matter.

"Ruby Rose, and these things you call beasts are creatures of Grimm." Ruby responded hotly, as she yawned behind her hand. "And what we know, is how to kill them."

The room fell into silence for a moment as Ruby stared down the general. For a moment all was silent until Magnar stood from his chair.

"Forgive me, your majesty, but I wish to test the prowess of this… so-called huntress." Magnar bowed to Elsa who looked over at the empty floor in her study, estimating there was enough room for a small sparring match to take place. This was a regular occurrence when testing the mettle of new guards, or warriors claiming to be proficient in combat. It had only been a week, but Elsa had already grown used to this type of test.

"Very well, Ruby if you could oblige our general with a short sparring match, I'd be much obliged." Elsa spoke tiredly as she looked over to the huntresses. A glance of understanding was shared between the women as Ruby left her spot and gave her partner her weapon.

"Alright, old guy. Bring it on." Ruby said as she simply stood there in the center of the empty floor.

Weiss watched as the man took a basic hand-to-hand combat stance and moved in. Yang would have been laughing at the horrible leverage he was giving himself as he punched the air where Ruby easily dodged his attacks before countering with a jab in the stomach.

Magnar seemed to get angrier as Ruby toyed with him and Weiss grew tired of observing the moment. She could tell Ruby wasn't even punching him, instead simply touching him to show where she'd have scored a hit.

"Ruby, just end it already." Weiss sighed as she watched her girlfriend dodge one last punch with a roll and kick the man in the back of his knee, sending him to the ground and perform a spinning axe kick to his forehead, sending him the rest of the way down and onto his back.

Ruby stood next to his head with a bored grin before stepping over his head and resuming her seat as the man slowly got up as he caught his breath from being both dazed and winded by the sudden meeting with the floor.

"General, these huntresses fight the creatures that threaten Arendelle. I have seen the ease of which these creatures destroy all in their path and advise you to prepare all available bodies not heading to the eastern pass for an extended stay on the north mountain." Elsa spoke commandingly. "The trolls have created a barrier of magic but I have been told that the barrier will fall come the new moon."

"If these creatures are as deadly as you describe, you'll be sending hundreds to their deaths!" Grimaldi countered quickly as Magnar resumed his seat.

"That is why the military is the last resort." Elsa spoke carefully. "Right now, I need more information. Information these huntresses may be able to provide. With my magic, I will be able to create an army of frost trolls to combat these creatures but if they fail, they must not reach our walls. If they do, then all is lost."

Silence ruled for a moment longer before the General bowed and sighed. "Yes, your majesty. Your will be done."

"Thank you." Elsa nodded. "You are dismissed General, Captain. Kai, take Ruby and Weiss to the royal guest quarters in our wing. My sister and I have some things to discuss before turning in."

"As you wish your majesty." Kai nodded and rose to leave.

Weiss however, pulled a rising Ruby back down beside her. "Listen, we need information, and we need it now."

"You will not address her majesty in that tone!" Kai objected turning on Weiss who's glare froze him in his tracks. Her glare turned toward Elsa and the sense of uneasiness from the waggon returned.

"What is it you wish to know?" Elsa asked.

"The trolls spoke of us being from another world. That means things are different here. I need to find a way back to our own world, and it needs to be quickly." Weiss replied with a glance at Ruby. "The rest of our team will be worried about us. And we have problems in our world that require our immediate attention."

"I… must consider your request. The information you seek is not known to me, but I will explore avenues that may solve your issue." Elsa replied diplomatically. "I will call upon you both in the morning after we break our fasts."

"Fine, but I expect something more concrete than the diplomatic answers you've been giving us since we met." Weiss replied rising and heading to the door, passing a shocked Kai before stopping and turning back. "And we'll need that talking rock and a forge at the earliest opportunity."

Ruby did some sort of half bow, half curtsy as she rushed to Weiss's side and pushed her out the door. Kai followed, snapping out of his shock with an apologetic bow to the royal sisters as he left. Elsa sighed and relaxed back into her seat as Anna looked at her with worry.

"So…" Anna dragged out as she took her sister's hands in her own, getting the tired Queen's attention. "What are you thinking?"

"Right now?" Elsa asked as she recalled the food which would by now be cooling in her chambers. "Would you join me for dinner?"

"Isn't it a bit late?" Anna asked, looking out the window at the inky black sky beyond.

"When has that ever stopped you?" Elsa laughed in response as she pulled herself and then Anna to her feet.

Anna opened her mouth to respond, but closed it just as quickly. "Good point. Let's go."


	14. Chapter 14

"What's gotten into you, Weiss?" Ruby asked the second Kai led them into the pair of adjoining rooms they would be sharing. There was a pair of guards outside the thick wooden door, but Kai had reassured them it was standard security for visiting nobles. Something Ruby didn't feel the need to question.

"There's something wrong here, Ruby." Weiss said quietly as she pulled her friend deeper into the room and away from the door. "I can see it in Elsa's eyes. There's something wrong and it has nothing to do with anything we spoke about in that room."

"What do you mean, Weiss?" Ruby asked in exasperation. "She sounds like she has enough problems with the grimm and whoever these… Karlenes are."

"Karelians, Ruby. And by the sound of it it's some type of cult." Weiss quickly corrected. "But that's not what I mean. These… royals, I suppose I'd call them, are hiding something and I have no idea what it might be."

Ruby walked the length of the room while holding her chin before turning back to Weiss. "Well, nobody tells everyone everything."

"I know, Ruby. Trust me, I know." Weiss shook her memories from her head. Memories better left forgotten. "What I mean is it's something that's being purposely hid, not simply omitted. Did you notice the behaviour between those two today?"

"Actually…" Ruby thought back for a few moments. "I was interested as to what sort of metal Anna's sword was made out of. I've never seen or heard of anything like it."

"Her… Ruby!" Weiss flicked Ruby's forehead in frustration. "Who cares about her weapon? I'm talking about the behaviour between the royals."

"Ouch, Weiss." Ruby whined as she rubbed her forehead. "I wasn't paying close enough attention but they did seem to whisper a lot."

Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, then I'll tell you what I saw." She looked around the area of the room, checking once more that there weren't any servants hiding around the corners and pulled Ruby closer to keep her voice as quiet as possible. "There were a fair few glances toward both of us, and I had the feeling that they were unsure about whether or not to treat us as a threat. I can't say anything for sure, but these women seem to be… planning something, and… I don't know."

"Well, we are strangers who travel around killing grimm…" Ruby laughed a little as she thought over the day. "But you do make a point about them planning something. But then again, they seem to have a lot on their plates, so they're probably just wondering if we'll help or how to convince us."

"I thought of that too, but I'm not so sure." Weiss said slowly before shaking her head to clear it. "There were a lot of times when the two of them would share a moment together that one of them would come out with a blush too, normally after they whispered and glanced in our direction…"

"Hold on!" Ruby stepped away to get a better look at Weiss. Her cheeks were dusted a light pink and her eyes shifted restlessly as Ruby felt a laugh build in her stomach along with another feeling that was new, but decidedly calming. "You're… are you… jealous?"

"What? Of course not!" Weiss's too-quick response was evidence enough and Ruby started giggling uncontrollably as she pulled Weiss into a hug.

"Why on Remnant would you be jealous of them?" Ruby asked while obviously holding back her giggles.

Weiss remained silent as Ruby's giggles eventually subsided. She noticed how still Weiss had become and quickly started to worry. She pulled Weiss over to the bed and sat down, pulling Weiss into her lap without any regard to the silent protest Weiss presented as she tried to slip away.

"Nope. You need to talk, Weiss." Ruby spoke quietly with great care. "So much has happened in the last few days, and you need to share what you're feeling so I can help. I want to be there for you."

Weiss knew Ruby was right and sighed. As her thoughts continued to swirl. She didn't know where to start and felt her eyes grow damp as the memory of her grandfather came back unbidden. And Ruby was pulling her head into her as she shook with repressed tears. It had been a very long day and now everything she knew about her life wasn't just uncertain but completely thrown into disarray. But it all came down to one overall feeling.

"I don't want to be alone." Weiss rasped quietly. So quietly Ruby didn't register the sound at first. A moment later, the hand rubbing her back paused and she pushed Weiss away to look into her eyes. "Everyone keeps leaving and I can't deal with it anymore!"

"Weiss… I'm not leaving you." Ruby replied firmly as she leaned forward, surprising Weiss by placing her lips against Weiss's own. Ruby remained firm as she held Weiss, keeping their lips together until Weiss relaxed slightly. "I know you're scared, Weiss. I am too. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. There's so much we don't know about where we are, but we have to stick together. We have to be good teammates because there isn't anyone else here with us. I need you and I know you need me. But more importantly, I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else. So I'm not going anywhere. Period."

"R-Ruby… I…" Weiss struggled as she tried to speak through her still shuddering breaths. Ruby responded by pulling her once more to her chest and embracing her tightly with both arms.

"Weiss, I know why you're scared. Why you're sad. But I want you to know that I stand by what I said after we left the hunter station." Ruby spoke quietly. "You've always been different than anyone else to me. And I still don't know how. But I can tell you that this, right now, holding you in my arms, feels right."

"Ruby…" Weiss whispered once more and felt another wave of tears come to her eyes.

Ruby shushed her quietly and rocked her back and forth for what felt like hours. Weiss didn't once loosen her grip on her partner, and not once did Ruby loosen her grip on Weiss. Even when Ruby felt her own tears trickling down her face, she simply let them fall, keeping her partner in her grip. It was only hours later in the dark light of the morning that Weiss awoke to find herself still comfortably wrapped in Ruby's arms where they'd fallen back onto the bed. She closed her eyes and quickly resumed her sleep, afraid of waking up to find this had just been a dream.

* * *

"Spill it Elsa!" Anna commanded as she wrestled her sister down to her back. They had just finished dinner and Elsa had the audacity to try evading her questions.

"Anna! Get off me!" Elsa replied, unable to conceal a giggle as Anna started tickling her. "S-stop it!"

"Tell me what I want to know!" Anna spoke in a falsely deep tone as she continued to fend off Elsa's arms and tickle the queen. "Or the Queen'll get it!"

"F-fine!" Elsa gasped as Anna let her go and fell to the bed next to her, immediately wrapping her arms around her and cuddling up to her.

As Elsa caught her breath, Anna walked two fingers over her stomach until Elsa looked over into her sister's eyes.

"I win." Anna pronounced with a giggle. Elsa returned a questioning glare as Anna reached over and knocked on the bed.

It took Elsa a moment to understand what had happened when she realized she'd actually frozen the sheets solid. With a wave of her hand, the bed returned to it's usual plush state, bringing even more giggles from her sister.

"I swear, with normal people you just have to worry about them making the sheets wet when you tickle them!" Anna continued to giggle until a sharp pain on her bottom made her jump. "Whoa!"

"That's payback." Elsa said with a grin as Anna resettled herself next to her. A content moment of silence fell over them in the flickering light of the fireplace. It had been a long day for both of them and Anna felt herself almost start to doze off before she remembered she had been asking questions.

"So…" Anna prodded, forcing herself awake again and looking up at her sister who seemed content to let her fall asleep. "I think we both know who'll win this contest."

Elsa sighed as she gently shook her head and planted her lips on her sister's forehead. "Alright, I'll tell you what I was thinking about." Elsa watched as Anna perked up and stilled, giving her compete attention to her sister. Elsa took a moment to consider her thoughts before looking back into Anna's beautiful eyes. "I was thinking about… something I shouldn't."

"Ooh! Sounds good." Anna encouraged with a conspiratorial grin. "Was it something about… what happened at the Ice Palace?"

"Anna, if you already knew, why did you ask?" Elsa sighed as she pushed her sister away and sat up, moving over to the dressing curtain that hadn't been used since her coronation. She stepped behind it as she waved her arms, dissolving her gown and replacing it with a set of nightclothes identical to the ones she'd used the previous night. She waved her arm over the screen as Anna approached making another set of clothes for her, as Anna offered her the back of her corset.

"Well, I didn't know… not for sure, but I sort of took a guess?" Anna replied quietly as if she were afraid of getting in trouble. Elsa quickly loosened her dress and gave her a light push behind the screen as she returned to the bed with her back to her sister. "What was it you were thinking about?"

"Well, I was just thinking that… I think we should sleep in our own beds." Elsa said quietly, avoiding the pang that she felt in her chest as the words left her mouth.

"What? Why?" Anna shouted in surprise as she raced back out from behind the screen and quickly knelt next her sister. "What brought this on? I thought you liked cuddling last night!"

"I did, Anna. Really." Elsa avoided looking at the princess before her. She'd become well practiced at keeping the door closed over the fourteen years they spent apart, but without the wood between them Elsa feared she wouldn't be able to keep her resolution.

"Then why?" Anna cried her confusion, grabbing Elsa's hand and pulling Elsa's attention to her face where tears were already streaming down. "Please, Elsa…"

"Because Anna, I'm so scared." Elsa said, sinking off the bed to wrap her sister in a tight hug. "People are capable of terrifying things when you go against their ideals. If the news of our relationship got out with the Karelians so close to our borders, it would almost guarantee their next target is Arendelle. Rumours or facts don't matter to these people, Anna."

"Elsa, what does it matter? They're probably going to try to make a move on us anyhow." Anna pointed out. "I mean, you said yourself. The Karelians aren't going to like our gods, and try to send us to Hel for it. We may as well give them a valid reason to attack."

"Anna…" Elsa sighed as she ducked her temple down onto her sister's shoulder.

"Actually… what would happen if we announced it?" Anna asked suddenly, breaking Elsa's thoughts completely.

"Are you mad?" Elsa asked incredulously as Anna pushed her away and started to think.

"Not sure, but we have too many problems going on at the same time with the court coming up and the various religious groups that want to set up here, and now the grimm too. We need to deal with them all, but there's only a couple thousand in our army. Not enough to deal with the creatures on the mountain and the Karelians at the same time." Anna stated as she thought. "How strong do you think Karelia is?"

"Recent reports stated that their troops are spread thin, occupying so much territory so I'd guess at something around five to ten thousand strong for their invasion force, why?" Elsa asked, captivated by her sister as she thought seriously.

"This might sound stupid, but what if they fought the creatures for us?" Anna's response hovered in the air for a few seconds as Elsa thought about it.

"The only way they'd fight the creatures is if they thought we'd be up at the Ice Palace. Even then, we couldn't guarantee they would leave Arendelle alone." Elsa responded, carefully. "But maybe, there's another way to do this."

"Really? What do you think?" Anna asked quickly, excited for Elsa's idea.

"I'm not entirely sure yet. I'll need to talk with Rapunzel, she should be arriving tomorrow. And I'll need to make some changes to Marshmallow." Elsa replied with a grin stretching her lips as Anna's eyes lit up with the mention of the giant snowman who was guarding the Ice Palace.

"Ooh, this is going to be good." Anna celebrated before leaning in to her sister and taking her lips with a gentle kiss that had Elsa close her eyes. Even as Anna pulled away, Elsa's eyes remained shut, remembering the sensation that had just left.

Elsa opened her eyes to find herself alone and turned to find Anna staring at her from beneath the covers.

"I win." Anna smugly gloated as she winked at her sister. Elsa sighed and climbed under the covers, almost immediately being reeled in by Anna. Elsa didn't have the energy left to fight, and it seemed that Anna was determined to give the handmaidens who would come in to prepare the bath the next morning a shock. "Sleep well my Snow Queen."

"Not so fast Anna. We still haven't talked about you wanting to protect me." Elsa felt her sister's arms stiffen as the words left her mouth and she knew that Anna had hoped she'd forgotten. "I don't want you in danger, Anna. I've almost lost you twice in my life already. Both times because of me. I don't want to risk losing you a third time."

"I won't go anywhere, I promise." Anna replied as she soothingly nuzzled into Elsa's neck. "But if you're going to be in danger, don't believe for a second that I'll let you face it alone."

"Anna…" Elsa sighed as her heart clenched at the honest words. "I wasn't asking you to not be a part of this, but I don't want you to put yourself in danger for no reason."

"Els… I know I haven't always been the most level-headed, and I'm sometimes a bit rash, but I swear that I only want to make sure you don't push yourself too far." Anna stated as she pulled her sister even closer. "I need you, but you need me too. That's just one of the reasons why I know I'm in love with you."

Elsa felt the blush on her face as her entire body was warmed by her sister. It didn't matter that they both wore dresses made from ice as the cold was nothing to either of them. "I love you too Anna. And if you won't stay out of harms way, then I think I'm going to ask those huntresses to teach us something."

"That sounds like it could be fun." Anna nodded, her voice already sounding tired. "It couldn't hurt to ask in the morning. Have a nice dream, Elsa."

"You as well, Anna." Elsa sighed as her eyes drooped. She'd deal with the rest of these problems tomorrow, because for now all that mattered was that Anna was at her side, not separated by a closed door. There had been more than enough of those in her life already.

That night, despite all her worries, Elsa's dreams were filled with nothing but happy memories of their short vacation at her ice castle.


	15. Chapter 15

_Delicious._

That was the one word, the only word, to describe the food they had been served on not one, but three large silver platters. There was at least four types of meat on one platter, eggs and a large assortment of bread on the second, and fruit on the last. Next to the platters which held more food than Weiss would be able to eat in as many days as there were platters, sat a small serving tray with fresh milk, cream, and tea.

The old grandfather clock in the corner of the room had just struck ten, waking both Weiss and Ruby from their sleep just as a knock sounded at the door. Eight servants had rushed in, hanging dresses and pieces of clothing over a dressing curtain and started running water in the bath. Two were currently making the recently abandoned bed and one was pulling various powders out of a box on the vanity. The last two had set up a table before bringing in the food which now held both Ruby and Weiss's attention.

"I know I wasn't feeling hungry yesterday, but damn." Ruby mumbled just loud enough for Weiss to hear, almost causing her to choke on the sip of tea she'd just attempted.

"Stop that, Ruby." Weiss chided as she gave the girl a warning look. Over the night, or rather, as she woke up realization of just how important Elsa and Anna might actually be finally started to sink in. The room they'd called a guest room was even more elaborate than the most decorated room in the Schnee household, and it must have cost a lot of money to build. They must have had countless servants at their call as well as an entire military. The fact they hadn't been downright terrified of a five thousand man invasion force was proof enough.

 _Knock knock._

Weiss looked up at the sudden noise, noticing a servant stopping by the door and looking back at them. Wordlessly, Weiss nodded to the girl in the simple green dress who opened the door to reveal Kai who stepped in, allowing her to close the door again.

"Glad to see you two up. The queen has requested your presence in the throne room at half past eleven. That should give you enough time to get out of those…." The way he eyed their outfits was all Weiss needed to know that he didn't approve. "In that regard, we've brought out two dresses that should fit relatively well. Your servants will be able to help with minor adjustments after you have cleaned up."

"Thanks!" Ruby chirped just before stuffing a relatively large chunk of bread into her mouth.

"Pleasure." Kai stepped back as he drew the word out, turning away disinterestedly. "I will come to escort you at twenty minutes past eleven. Please ensure you are ready."

With that he took his leave, allowing the eight servants to mill around at their chores until the one preparing the washroom returned.

"The baths are ready Miladies. Please follow me." She spoke with a subtle nod at her colleague who followed her into the washroom as Ruby pulled Weiss along behind them.

"Whoa…" Ruby breathed as she took in the washroom for the first time. And honestly, Weiss couldn't blame her.

The room was sparkling white tile from floor to ceiling, which was painted with a mural of a sun on a cloudy summer day. And the room was large, it had two bathtubs large enough for the entirety of team RWBY to fit in each one and they were filled over the brim with bubbles. They even had a dividing dressing curtain between the steps leading into them. The servants waited patiently on either side of the curtain and Weiss suddenly had a sneaking suspicion of what they were waiting for.

As if on cue, the servants moved and started attempting to undress them as they pulled them to opposite sides of the curtain.

"H-hey!" Ruby squeaked causing Weiss to jump away as her servant pulled her jacket off.

"Leave us. We don't require your assistance in this regard." Weiss spoke as she'd done routinely in her father's presence, and immediately she watched as the second servant walked out from around the other side of the curtain and the two left with simple apologies. Weiss noticed the odd smile on their faces before shaking her head and turning her attention to the curtain. "Are you alright Ruby?"

"Y-yeah. Just… wasn't expecting that." She muttered in response. For a second there was silence then Weiss heard the sound of her partner's corset being undone and watched as Ruby's cape was draped over the dressing curtain next to Weiss's jacket followed closely by her skirt.

"I should go. I'll just-" Weiss started, feeling her cheeks light as she realized what Ruby was doing past the light wooden frame between them.

"There's two tubs Weiss." Ruby replied easily as if it were just common sense. "We do sort of smell."

"Ruby… I don't think that's a good idea." Weiss said as she nevertheless started to take her dress off.

"I promise I won't look if that's what you're worrying about." Ruby giggled slightly as she quickly stepped up the steps and dropped into the tub.

Weiss almost forgot to breathe as the split second flash of Ruby's skin embedded itself into her mind. The slight but muscular curvature of her back almost becoming her main focus if it weren't for the glimpse of Ruby's rear which she found impossible to erase from her memory. Ruby had at least had the thought to cover her upper half but even so, Weiss found herself suddenly warm as Ruby turned back to her with a gentle grin before turning to look at the far wall to give Weiss her privacy.

Weiss quickly finished undressing herself and dropped herself into her tub, surprised that the temperature was almost perfect, just slightly on the hotter side of warm.

"Nice, right?" Ruby asked with a grin as she moved along the massive tub until her head bobbed directly in the center.

"Y-yeah." Weiss nodded as she felt the knots in her muscles slowly untangle themselves.

The two fell silent as they simply sat, enjoying the warmth. Weiss watched Ruby's silver eyes shimmer in the damp heat of the room and felt her core heat up as she thought about what lay beneath the thick layer of bubbles on Ruby's tub. She wasn't proud about the thoughts running through her head, but was simply happy she wasn't tempted to act on those feelings. She'd just gotten Ruby to agree to try their new relationship out, and wasn't eager to push her too far too fast.

Weiss pushed that thought out of her head as she watched Ruby rub the bubbles into her own shoulders, sighing as the pink lathe remained on her skin even as she moved her hands down her front. Weiss bit her lip as her hands involuntarily started to copy her partner, rubbing her shoulders and then moving down her front where she was met by her two very erect nipples.

Weiss watched Ruby as she rubbed one arm then another before returning to her front. Weiss felt a drop of blood form where her teeth were desperately holding on to what she thought would be an embarrassing sound. Shaking herself from watching Ruby, Weiss closed her eyes and quickly finished washing herself before letting herself soak in the hot water. The sloshing from Ruby's tub was thought provoking but manageable, and Weiss was able to calm herself down enough to once again open her eyes.

She turned to find Ruby staring at her, still in the center of the tub, her face now red as her eyes met Weiss's. Ruby bit her lip as if she wanted to say something. After a moment, she seemed to decide not to voice her thought and smiled, but didn't look away. They remained like that, eyes staring into each others for minutes as Ruby continued to bite her lip and Weiss found herself doing the same.

Weiss watched as Ruby's eyes dilated for a moment before Ruby's teeth released her lip and she let out a long, shaky breath and slumped further into the water. The look on her face seemed almost serene and Weiss found herself heating up all over again, this time unable to stop herself as she pinched one of her nipples roughly and started to tease her sensitive bud before she realized what she was doing. All while looking at Ruby who seemed to have zoned out with the way her eyes seemed to gloss over.

Half of her mind couldn't believe what she was doing and urged her to stop, but the other half really didn't care. Weiss felt herself tense and gasped for air as she felt her legs contract powerfully. Her head felt light and she wanted nothing more than to enjoy the sensations coursing through her veins but instead kept an eye on Ruby to ensure she remained off in her own world. She had never finished herself so quickly before, and never wanted to continue once she had. But just looking at Ruby's content expression somehow soon had Weiss continuing to toy with her sensitive bud in the hopes that she'd finish herself a second time.

Ruby's face had a serene grin on it that made Weiss want nothing more than to kiss her senseless. Weiss felt herself tensing in anticipation as she slowly edged into her second orgasm. She pinched her bud gently and coughed as she felt the pressure inside burst in a brilliant white flash of stars in front of her eyes. She fought desperately to not move as Ruby's eyes shifted back and then looked into her own, but any attempt at hiding the pleasure washing through her was doomed from the start. Weiss felt wave after wave of pleasure race through her as her muscles clenched and she breathed heavily in an attempt to still appear normal or at least as if she were just getting overheated from the water. That is, until she let slip a low moan as her muscles finally went slack, allowing her to sink completely under the water for a moment.

Weiss felt her shame at the incident flare as she held her breath and debated for a moment as to whether of not she would like to resurface from the tub. There was no doubt in her mind that Ruby had been watching her, and she was terrified of having gone too far. Weiss hated how weak she was to resist the temptation of Ruby's lithe frame, but at the same time marvelled that she'd been able to finish not just once, but twice with nothing more than Ruby's smile and her imagination. She sighed, letting her breath out and rubbing her face. As much as she hated to admit it, Ruby at least deserved an apology for her actions, so she pushed herself back to the surface hoping that Ruby might have missed the final, most embarrassing sound she'd let slip.

"Weiss." Ruby's almost choked voice sounded close as Weiss surfaced looking at Ruby's empty tub. She turned around just as Ruby's fingers wrapped themselves firmly into her dripping hair and pulled her to the edge of the tub where Ruby crashed their lips together almost desperately, not that Weiss minded one bit. This kiss was intense, but also calming. Weiss felt her heart rate slow back to a usual pace, and her panic about having offended disappear as Ruby's lips worked their magic. After what could only have been minutes, Ruby released her and stepped back. Weiss noticed she was wrapped in a towel and she held out another for her.

"Thanks." Weiss said as she took the towel and wrapped her long hair in it. Before she could ask, Ruby passed her another towel and turned away, allowing Weiss to exit the tub. "Ruby-"

"Nope." Was the immediate response before she'd even voiced her thoughts.

"Ruby I'm-" Weiss tried again, feeling her face blush as she looked at Ruby's own blush.

"Nope. Nuh-uh." Ruby said with her leader voice as she shook her head firmly.

"I'm just-" Weiss tried yet again only to have Ruby crash her lips to her own once more.

Weiss gasped as Ruby's tongue met her own and it quickly turned into a fight for dominance that Ruby soon won, sucking on Weiss's tongue as she moaned at the odd yet pleasurable sensation. It definitely didn't help that Weiss could feel the smooth skin of Ruby's arms beneath her hands as they embraced. Ruby released Weiss and licked at her girlfriend's lips as Weiss helplessly grasped Ruby's body closer to her own.

"Can we just pretend we didn't just do that?" Ruby asked with a tone that Weiss now realized was a mix of shyness and frustration mixed with Ruby's usual awkwardness. She waited for Weiss's nod before smiling and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. "Th-thanks."

Weiss just nodded into Ruby's shoulder as they held each other. Whatever Weiss had done in her life to deserve Ruby, she didn't know. But at the moment she was just thankful to have made another memory with the energetic girl, embarrassing as it may have been.

"Wait… _we_?" Weiss asked, her eyes wide as she pushed herself away to look into Ruby's eyes.

"Um… the experiment worked?" Ruby suggested as her face grew to an even deeper shade of red. "Just… drop it for now?"

"Uh, yeah… yeah." Weiss nodded in a kind of stunned silence as the implications of Ruby's words worked through her mind. She pushed all thoughts about the last few minutes out of her head as she searched for a topic that would be safer than the one she wanted to address. "We should probably get ready for the queen."


End file.
